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ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE 



TWn-HUNDRSDTH AiNffERSAM 



INCOEPORATION 



TOWN OF MILTON, 



JUNE Nth, 1862. 



By JAMES M. ROBBINS 





./ 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFOBE THE 



INHABITANTS OE THE TOWN OF MILTON, 



200tli ANNIVERSARY 



INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN, 



JTJNEl lltli, 1863. 



By JAMES M. ROBBINS. 



BOSTON: 

DAVID CLAPP, PRINTER 334 WASHINGTON ST. 

1862. 



fit' 



63 7° "2) 



Milton, Apuil 26, 1862. 
Hon. JAMES M. ROBBINS. 

Dear Sir : 

The Citizens of Milton, at their Town Meeting held at the Town 
House, April 21st, passed the following vote, -viz. : — 

" That a Committee of five be appointed to take such measures as may- 
be necessary to celebrate, in an appropriate manner, the bi-centennial anni- 
versary of the incorporation of the town of Milton, on the 11th day of 
June next. That the Committee be instructed to invite the Hon. James ^M. 
Robbins to deliver an address upon the occasion." 

In accordance with this vote, the following named gentlemen were 
appointed on the Committee, viz. : Josiah Babcock, Elijah Tucker, Jason 
W. Houghton, Charles Taylor and Charles M, S. Churchill. On the 24th 
they met at the house of Charles Taylor, to make the necessary arrangements, 
and there instructed the undersigned to forward to you a copy of the above 
vote of the town of Milton. I now have the honor of obeying their in- 
structions. In doing so, allow me to express the wish that the invitation 
will be accepted by one so familiar with, and so able to narrate the history 
of Milton. 

Very respectfully, your obed't servant, 

CHARLES M. S. CHURCHILL, 

Sea'etary of the Committee, 



Milton, April 30, 1862. 
C. M. S. CHURCHILL, Esq. 

Secretary of the Committee of the 
Town of Milton. 

Dear Sir : 

Your note, inclosing the vote of the Town in relation to the 
approaching Anniversary of the Incorporation, is received. I am duly 
sensible of the honor conferred on me in this vote, and regret that my 
qualifications for the performance of the duties which the occasion imposes, 
are not more adequate than I believe them to be. StiU, I shall not shrink 
from the service, and will endeavor to be prepared on the day you name. 

With respect, your obed't servant, 

JAMES M. ROBBINS. 



Milton, June 17, 1862. 
Hon. J. M. ROBBINS. 

Dear Sir : 

Tlie Committee of Arrangements tender you their thanks for 
your interesting and instructive Address, on the 11th inst., and request 
a copy of the same for publication and distribution through the town. 

Yours respectfully, 

C. M. S. CHURCHILL, 

Secretary, 



Milton, June 20, 1862. 
C. M. S. CHURCHILL, Esq. 

Secretary of the Town Committee, 
Dear Sib : 

I cheerfully furnish a copy of the Address prepared at the 
invitation of the Town of Milton, for the celebration of the two-hundredth 
Anniversary of the Incorporation. I have filled out slight biographical 
notices of certain persons, which would have trespassed too much upon 
the time of the audience in delivery. 

I avail myself of this occasion to express my thanks to the Town, for 
thair indulgent hearing on that day. 

With respect, your friend, 

J. M. ROBBINS. 



ORDER OF EXERCISES 

At the Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Incorpo- 
ration OF the Town of Milton, June lltb, 1862. 



I.— VOLUNTARY ON THE ORGAN. 



II.— ANTHEM. 

O be joj'ful in the Lord, all ye lands ; serve the Lord -with gladness, and 
come before His presence with a song. 

Be ye sure that the Lord He is God ; it is He that hath made us, and 
not we ourselves ; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 

O go your way into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts 
vi'ith praise ; be thankful unto Him, and speak good of His name. 

For the Lord is gracious, His mercy is everlasting ; and His truth en- 
dureth from generation to generation. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the begumhig, is now, and ever shall be, world without end . 

A?nen, 

HL— PRAYER, by Rev. John H. Morison. 
IV.— BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN, by Mrs. S. D. Whitney. 

{Air : Auld Lang Syne.] 

1. O'er way-posts of two hundred years, 4. When but the herald hues of morn 
Alonof a living line, Hope's blazon might combine ; 

Thought flashes back, through smiles and tears, Our Flag of Stars was yet unborn 
To days of Auld Lang Syne. In days of Auld Lang Syne. 

To days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, In days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

To days of Auld Lang Syne ; In days of Auld Lang Syne ; 

Thought flashes back, through smiles and tears, Our Flag of Stiirs was yet unborn 
To days of Auld Lang Syne. In days of Auld Lang Syne. 

2. AVhen o'er a realm of embryo might 5. Small need those pilgrim heroes had 
Great summers came to shine, Of Freedom's outer sign ; 

And searche'l a wilderness to light Her mighty heart beat high and glad 
The hiimes of Auld Lang Syne. In breasts of Auld Lang Syne 1 

The homes of Auld Lang Syne, my friends. In breasts of Auld Lang Syne, my friends. 
The homes of Auld Lang Syne ; In breasts of Auld Lang Syne j 

And searched a wilderness to light Her mighty heart beat high and glad 
The homes of Auld Lang Syne. In breasts of Auld Lang Syne. 

3. When all our leagues of level rail 6. We trace the centuries' double span. 
Lay waiting in the mine, We measure their design, 

And hardy huntsmen trod the trail, And grasp the greatness that began 
In days of Auld Lang Syne. Far back in Auld Lang Syne. 

In days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, Far back in Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 
la days of .Auld Lang Syne ; Far back in Auld Lang Syne ; 

When hardy huntsmen trod the trail, We grasp the greatness that began 
In days of Auld Lang Syne. Far back in Auld Lang Syne. 



VI OEDER OP EXERCISES. 



V. Where hands are strong and hearts are true, 8. And still, with souls like those of yore, 

Still speeds the work divine ; Steadfast through storm and shine, 

To-day is grand with deeds to do, God bless us, as He blessed before 

As days of Auld Lang Syne. The men of Auld Lang Syne ! 

As days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, The men of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

As days of Auld Lang Syne ; The men of Auld Lang Syne ; 

To-day is grand with deeds to do, God bless us, as he blessed before 

As days of Auld Lang Syne. The men of Auld Lang Syne 1 

v.— ADDRESS, by Hon. James M. Robbins. 
VI.— HYMN. 

[Air : America.] 

1. My country ! 'tis of thee, 2. My native country, thee .' 

Sweet land of liberty ! Land of the noble free ! 

Of thee I sing. Thy name I love. 

Land where my fathers died-, I love thy rocKs and rills, 

Land of the Pilgrun's pride. Thy woods and templed hills , 

'From every mountain side. My heart with rapture thrills 

Let freedom ring. Like that above. 

3. Our Fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of Uberty ! 
To Thee we sing. 
Long may our laud be bright 
With freedom's holy light ; 
Protect us ))y thy might. 
Great God, Om- King ! 

Vn.— BENEDICTION, by Rev. Albert K. Teele. 



[JosiAH Babcock, chairman of tlie Committee, introduced 
tlie speaker as follows : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : In behalf of the Committee of 
Arrangements, I have the pleasure of introducing to you a 
gentleman, whom the County aud Town have delighted to 
honor, as did they his father and grand-father — the Hon- 
James M. Robbins, who will now address you.] 



ADDRESS. 



It is a time-honored usage of all civilized people, 
to commemorate leading events of their past history ; 
and we have come here to-day to celebrate the com- 
niencement of the corporate existence of our ancient 
town, which began its independent and honorable 
career two centuries ago at this time — and also to 
do honor to the memory of the fathers, whose 
wisdom and far-reaching sagacity laid out the 
courses which have guided much of their posterity 
in the paths of industry and rational life during 
this long lapse of time. 

The small self-acting communities which we call 
townships, into which our whole territory is divided, 
are, in fact, a Massachusetts invention, which sub- 
sequently spread throughout New England and 
many of the Middle and Western States of the 
Union, and m the territorial divisions have been 
adopted by the Federal Government in laying out 
the public lands. It is difficult for us, who have 
never known any other form, to appreciate the wide- 
spread benefits which have resulted from this simple 
institution, which has continued with very trifling 



8 

amendments from the beginning. As an instrument 
for the support and development of all the elements 
of civilization, nothing equals it. Where else, out- 
side of the circle controlled by this form of govern- 
ment, are the great institutions of religion and 
education so effectually guarded and supported 1 
Where are the highways so good, and where are the 
victims of helpless poverty and old age so well pro- 
vided for, as they are found within the regions which 
have adopted this system? Other countries have 
made arrangements for all these interests in some 
form or other, and favored individuals everywhere 
may enjoy the benefits of religious instruction, and 
acquire knowledge and distinction in every branch 
of science ; but the imiversality with which every 
individual of every condition of life among us, 
through the means of our town governments, ac- 
quires the rudiments of education, and enjoys the 
quiet security of life and property, has stamped the 
character of the inhabitants of New England as 
distinguished for intelligence and self-reliance, I 
may say, beyond the population of any other portion 
of Christendom. Certain orders and instructions of 
the Massachusetts Company throw some light upon 
this matter. Matthew Cradock, a rich London mer- 
chant, the Governor and principal director of the 
Association known as the Company of the London 
Plantations in Massachusetts Bay, which obtained 
the first charter of the Colony, instructs their agent, 
Capt. Endicott, in these words; "After laying out 
a town plot, let no man presume to build his house 
without the pale ;" and this rule is so rigidly enforced, 



9 

that the Dorchester plantation ordered that "no man 
shall build his house more than half a mile from the 
Meeting-house." The main purpose of these orders 
was to provide religious instruction and support for 
public worship. The predominance of the religious 
element is every where apparent. 

The founders of the Colony had a full appreciation 
of the value of compact communities. Gov. Cradock 
writes again, " The burnt child dreads the fire ; our 
countrymen have suifered in Virginia by their too much 
confidence " — alluding to the disasters which had befal- 
len that Colony. The Virginia Colony preceded the 
settlement of Massachusetts, twenty years, and their 
experience was used as a beacon to guide our ad- 
venturers. The early historians of Virginia inform 
us that their Colony was called into existence by the 
success of the Spanish operations in the gold and 
silver mines in Mexico and Peru, and no especial 
forethought towards the establishment of a well- 
regulated society seems to have been exercised in 
the first movements. The Government of the Col- 
ony, residing in London, sent over a deputy Governor 
with the first company of settlers, consisting " of 
broken tradesmen, unruly sparks packed ofi" by then* 
friends to escape worse destinies at home, poor gen- 
tlemen, rakes, libertines, footmen, and others more 
fitted to spoil a Commonwealth than to maintain 
one."* These persons, incapable of labor, were soon 
occupied in quarrelling among themselves, and in 
cheating the Indians in the fur trade, &c. The 

* Stith's History of Virginia. 



10 

Company continued sending out more emigrants, 
including many convicted felons, making a penal 
Colony of it ; and to supply wives for the emigrants, 
sent out a great number of unmarried women, who 
Avere sold at 160 lbs. tobacco each, to pay the ex- 
penses of transportation. The plantations were 
scattered in a straggling manner, wherever a choice 
vein of land presented itself — the farther from 
neighbors the better. A preconcerted Indian mas- 
sacre destroyed four hundred Europeans. The re- 
sult of all this was that, after a lapse of twelve 
years, their corn was still sent from England ; and 
after an expenditure of £100,000, and many thou- 
sand emigrants had been sent, only six hundred 
Europeans could be found. 

This picture was constantly before the Massachu- 
setts Company, and served greatly to shape their 
course. The town governments were not produced 
by any legislation, but grew into use through the 
practical good sense of the early settlers, and Salem 
and Dorchester had chosen men to regulate those 
plantations, some years before any general law on 
the subject existed. Many of the laws of Massa- 
chusetts had their origin in the rules and orders 
adopted in the plantations, before the colonial legis- 
lature acted upon them ; all the leadmg features of 
the school law appear on the records of Dorchester, 
some years before the general law was enacted. 

I mention the case of Virginia, because it ac- 
counts for many of the first movements of our Colo- 
nial Government. The fur trade was made a mo- 
nopoly of the Colony, and the trade with the Indians 



11 

confined to certain confidential persons appointed 
and licensed by the authorities. To sell a house 
and land was prohibited, unless the purchaser was 
first approved of by the inhabitants of the plantation. 
After the pains taken to investigate the character of 
all emigrants before they embarked, if any libertine 
should be discovered, he was to be sent back. Again, 
no idle drone is to be permitted within our borders. 
All these regulations are to be found in the early 
records, and the benefits resultmg from these arbi- 
trary laws are not entirely obliterated to this day. 

If Virginia and Carolina had been laid out into 
townships and small sections, and divided among 
settlers, as was Massachusetts, no African slavery 
would ever have existed in North America ; — but 
giving whole counties and duchies to the Culpeppers, 
the Cal verts, the Fairfaxes and the Warwicks, pro- 
duced the same results here, that similar causes have 
produced in other countries — serfdom in Russia, 
feudalism in Germany, and Negro-slavery here. 
These great land-holders could find no laborers 
among the wretched emigrants already described, and 
the Earl of Warwick fitted out a piratical craft to 
rob the Spanish slavers in the tropics, to supply the 
deficiency — the fii'st introduction of the African race 
upon this Continent. 

For six years after the arrival in Massachusetts 
Bay of Governor Winthrop, Avitli the Charter, in 1630, 
and the great accompanying emigration connected 
with this movement, all the territory comprised with- 
in the present borders of Milton remained a part of 
the undivided lands of the Colony, and during this 



12 

period three gentlemen, who were doubtless mem- 
bers or stock-holders of the Company before they 
left England — Israel Stoughton, John Glover, and 
William Hutchinson — selected a part of the land 
dividends to which they were entitled, within our 
limits. They were probably attracted by certain 
natural advantages which belonged to the locality ; 
the water-falls in the river, the convenience for ship 
building offered by the tide waters, an abundant sup- 
ply of ship timber, and, above all, the fertility of 
much of the land. Stoughton and Glover were 
prominent men in the Dorchester plantation, and, as 
the pioneers of civilization upon our soil, deserve 
some notice on this occasion. 

Mr. Stoughton selected 160 acres of land con- 
nected with the lower falls, including nearly the 
whole of Milton Hill, and the front on the river to 
the bend, where the ship yard of Mr. Briggs was 
located. Nearly all this property continued in him 
and his heirs for more than twenty years, Avhen it 
was sold to John Gill, in 1656. Col. Stoughton's 
character and career are too well known to need 
repetition here. He was an active, public-spirited 
man, of the true Cromwellian type, engaged in every 
movement for the benefit of the Colony, resisting 
the conspiracies of the Indians, founding the College, 
and during the twelve years of his residence in 
Dorchester, the whole time occupying an important 
place as Deputy or Councillor in the Government, 
or commanding the forces in the Indian wars in 
Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1644 he left 
his family and embarked for England, where he died 



13 

the following year, the Colonel of a Parliamentary 
regiment engaged, in the great revolution of that day. 

Mr. Glover selected a lot directly south of Milton 
Hill, of 180 acres, on the flat fronting on the north- 
west by the brook, and south-east on the centre line 
of the town, where he laid out a farm, and after the 
annexation of our territory to Dorchester, built a 
house near where the brook reaches the road by Mr. 
Da\is's. This farm was occupied many years by 
his agent or tenant, Nicholas Wood, until it was sold 
in 1654 by the heirs to Robert Vose. Mr. Glover, 
besides employing himself much in commerce, was 
often Eepresentative for Dorchester, and many years 
Assistant or Councillor. Capt. Johnson describes 
him as a plain, sincere, godly man, strong for the 
truth, and of good abilities. His name is frequently 
mentioned as attending the meetmgs of the Company 
in London, before the emigration. He left several 
sons, and his posterity is numerous in New England 
now. 

Mr. William Hutchinson belonged to the Lincoln- 
shu'e Company, who came with Rev. Mr. Cotton and 
settled at Boston. Mt. Wollaston or Braintree was 
early ceded to the toA^m of Boston, with a view of 
supplying the inhabitants of the peninsula with such 
lands as they might desire. Mr. H. laid out a large 
tract, doubtless supposing it to be within the Brain- 
tree line, but when a survey was made in laying out 
the to^vns of Braintree and Dorchester, a large part 
of Hutchinson's lot was found to fall within the line 
of the latter town ; in fact, included the whole east 
corner of the town of Milton, besides a large tract 



14 

within the Braintree line. The title, however, was 
confirmed to him, including all the land east of Gul- 
liver's brook to the present Quincy line, and was 
sold in 1656 by his son Capt. Edward Hutchinson, 
to Anthony GuUiver, Stephen Kinsley and Henry 
Crane. 

Mr. Hutchinson's career in Massachusetts was 
very soon terminated through the proceedings insti- 
tuted by the Colony and Clergy against his wife, 
Ann Hutchinson, upon the charge of heresy, of 
which she and some of her adherents were convicted, 
by a synod held at Cambridge, and banished from 
the Colony. They went to JSTarraganset, with many 
of the best people of Massachusetts, and purchased 
the Island of Aquitnet (now Rhode Island), and laid 
the foundation of another Colony. Strange mcon- 
sistency in the founders of Massachusetts, who had 
just quit their native land to avoid the persecutions 
of the English Hierarchy, to establish here a rule 
more despotic than they had just left in Europe. 
Their treatment of Roger "Williams and Ann Hutch- 
inson showed greater extravagances than any of the 
acts of Archbishop Laud. But we must not forget 
that these were the errors of an age, just emerging 
through the Reformation from the Roman yoke, and 
the spirit of intolerance which had pervaded the 
whole Christian world for many centuries, was in 
some degree entailed upon succeeding generations — 
and that the energy with which our Colonists maintain- 
ed the rigors of the Calvinistic faith was only one 
phase of a character, which inculcated strict life, 
industrious habits, the education of children, and all 



15 

the virtues which have sustained their descendants 
down to the present day. The Reformation did not 
explode all the barbarities of the middle ages. Twen- 
ty women were hanged in Salem for witchcraft, one 
hundred and fifty years after Martin Luther was in 
his grave. Our good friend and neighbor, Chief 
Justice Stoughton, charged the Juries in favor of 
the convictions. 

Edward, the son of William Hutchinson, soon 
returned to Boston, and spent a long life, as a most 
active and useful citizen in Massachusetts, and was 
finally killed in the service of the Colony at Brook- 
field, in Philip's war, 1676, in command of a cavalry 
corps. His posterity made a figure for four genera- 
tions, in almost every post, civil and military, in the 
Colony. Governor Hutchinson, his great grand-son, 
long connected with our town, will be named in due 
course. 

In 1636, the town of Dorchester obtained a grant 
of nearly the whole territory now comprising the 
town of Milton, which was the first of a liberal 
series of grants made by the Colony to that important 
town. This movement was the signal for the com- 
mencement of the actual occupation and settlement 
of Milton, and the twenty-five years which passed, 
during the connection with Dorchester, until the in- 
dependent establishment of the town, sufficed to col- 
lect about thkty families, with which our separate ca- 
reer began. It was usual, in occupying new territory at 
that time, to obtain a release of the Indian title from 
theh' chiefs; and accordingly in October, 1636, the 
Neponset Sagamore Cutshamoqum, for twenty-eight 



16 

fathoms of wampum conveys, for the use of the 
Dorchester plantation, all the land south of Ne- 
ponset to the Blue Hills, to Richard CoUicot (town 
corporations not then created), reserving certain 
lands which he had heretofore given to Collicot for 
himself. ]\Ir. Collicot's name appears among the 
early inhabitants of Dorchester, and he is mentioned 
as a licensed fur dealer, which occupation seems to 
have brought him early into intimate relations with 
the native Indians. He obtained a lot of 120 acres 
at Unquety (doubtless the Pratt farm), and built 
there a house, perhaps the first dwelling in the town. 
He seems to have been a most active and useful man 
— Selectman and Deputy for the town of Dorchester, 
officer of the Artillery Company, member of the 
Synod at Cambridge ; at one time trading with the 
settlements in Maine, now aiding Governor Endicott 
in the Narraganset war, then assistmg the apostle 
Elliot in collecting the Indians for religious service 
at the falls — an energetic, ubiquitous man, whose 
permanent residence it is difficult to fix, but his 
connection with our settlement is traced dining fifty 
years. He was trustee of our meeting-house fund 
in 1664. He died at Boston, 1686. 

John Holman procured a grant of 110 acres ad- 
joining Collicot (the E.owe farm), and settled there 
very early, and the property remained in his family 
nearly a century. The Stoughton and Hutchinson 
lots occupied all the north-east front of the town, 
excepting the space between Gulliver's brook and a 
line crossing the road near the Swift house, which 
space was divided into three lots, fronting on the 



17 

marshes : — the first or north lot, of one hundred and 
twenty acres, occupied by WilHani Daniels, wlio 
built his house near the Foye mansion ;* the second, 
of sixty acres, laid out by Nehemiah Bourne, a Lon- 
don ship-carpenter, living at Boston, who never oc- 
cupied it, but returned to England with Stoughton, 
and became a Major in his regiment ; the third lot, 
of fourteen acres, fronting on Gulliver's creek, laid 
out for Bray Wilkins, a Dorchester man, who was 
licensed in 1638 to keep a ferry across Neponset, to 
facilitate the intercourse between Boston and Mount 
Wollaston before the roads were made. 

The Massachusetts Colony was at this time much 
favored by Cromwell, for their early sympathy and 
co-operation in the revolution — while all the other 
Colonies, adhering to the Stewarts, were punished 
Avith restrictions and embarrassments. An exemp- 
tion from duties, and free trade with all the world, 
was permitted to Massachusetts, and this stimulated 
the business of ship-building. Several persons of 
this calling took up their residence here, in the east 
part of the town, such as William Salisbury, Anthony 
Newton, Walter Morey and others. It is probable 
they were occupied in building small vessels of 30 
or 40 tons, called shallops, much used about the bay, 
in fishing and coasting trade, and they imdoubtedly 
used the head of the tide on Gulliver's creek, where 



* On September 24th, 1G53, at a meeting of the Commissioners of the 
United Colonies, holden at Boston, recorded — "Having learned that the 
Avife of William Daniels hath, for three years past, bestowed much of her 
time in teaching several Indians to read, think fit to allow her £12 for the 
time past ; and to encourage her to continue the same course, that more of the 
Indians may be taught by her, think lit to allow her £3 more beforehand, 
towards another year." 
3 



18 

the town still owns the landing, as such craft could 
easily be floated out at spring tides, and that location 
was more convenient to get the timber than the 
banks of the river. The residence of these persons 
was mainly in that vicinity. 

At this period the principal occupants of the 
place were located in the eastern section of the town, 
and the latter part of the time they were exempted 
from contributmg to the support of the Dorchester 
church, by reason of having provided themselves 
with religious instruction, in conjunction with some 
persons from Braintree ; no record exists of their 
place of worship, or who taught them. It is proba- 
ble that Stephen Kinsley — who was ordained with 
much formality as a ruling elder at Braintree, in 1653, 
and had moved on to the Hutchinson purchase — 
first officiated in that place, which was the only pub- 
lic service held in the town, until the erection of the 
first Meeting-house in 1671, built on the land set 
apart and appropriated to that purpose by Robert 
Vose, on a part of his farm (near Mr. Barnard's). 
Mr. Kinsley had been an inhabitant and Representa- 
tive of Braintree, several years before he moved here, 
and he was the first Representative of Milton. The 
petition for incorporation was drawn by him, and is 
among the archives of the State, signed by himself, 
Robert Vose and John Gill, as a Committee of the 
inhabitants. The principal argument used was the 
necessity of providing legally for public worship. 

" The elders continued to be consulted in every 
affair of importance, as long as the charter continued. 
The share they had in temporal affairs added to the 



19 

weight they had acqmred from their spiritual em- 
ployments, and they were in high esteem."* 

There were a few scattered farms in other parts of 
the town. Samuel Wadsworth, a young man, son 
of a Plymouth pilgrim, moved here from Duxbury, 
and selected a large lot running from the centre of 
the town, to the south-east line, a mile or more 
from any other inhabitant, and this lot is still, in 
part, occupied by his descendants. John Fenno, of 
Dorchester, occupied a lot near the burying-ground. 
Robert Badcock occupied a large lot between the 
river and the brook, next to Mr. Vose. All the west 
portion of the town was run out into lots, about 1650, 
and divided among the inhabitants of Dorchester, 
magistrates and ministers receiving large lots, and 
persons of less note, small strips, a mile long and 
hardly wide enough to build a corn-barn upon. Of 
these, the Brush Hill lots were first occupied, but 
there is no sufficient evidence of the presence of in- 
habitants there before the incorporation. 

The main landing place on the river was origi- 
nally designed by Mr. Stoughton to have been fixed 
where ]Mr. Briggs's ship yard was located, but was 
changed to its present site, near the falls, on petition 
of John Gill, in 1658. Four hundred acres of land 
in the centre of the town was laid out for the bene- 
fit of the Dorchester church, in 1659 — afterwards 
divided with the Milton church. 

The Neponset tribe of Indians were removed from 
their proximity to our settlement in 1656, and placed 
on a large tract of land at Punkapog, granted to 

* Hutchinson, Vol. III., p. 181. 



20 

them by the town of Dorchester, at the urgent solici- 
tation of Mr. EKot, who regarded the movement as 
essential to their welfare. 

I will now advert to another subject which seems 
to belong to this period, and which by some may be 
considered too uncertain to nierit a place in our his- 
tory. A certain locality within our present borders 
has long been known, without any data as to the 
origin of the name, as Scotch Woods. The expla- 
nation I am about to offer is unsupported by any 
record, and is entirely conjectural with myself. In 
1643, John AVinthrop, Jr. came from England, and 
brought £1000 worth of stock and divers workmen 
to begin an iron work. He had formed in England 
a company for this purpose. The General Court of 
Massachusetts encouraged the enterprise, by granting 
a monopoly for twenty-one years, freedom from taxes 
and trainings of the laborers, and a very liberal grant 
of the Colonial lands to be made when the works 
were completed. The town of Boston was greatly 
interested in the undertaking, and the location of 
the works at Braintree was encouraged by a grant 
of three thousand acres of land, still belonging to 
Boston, at that place. This tract is the same land 
which was purchased seventy years afterwards, in 
1711, by Manasseh Tucker, Samuel Miller and John 
Wads worth of Milton, and divided by the Court be- 
tween Braintree and Milton at that time. The fifteen 
hundred acres attached to our jurisdiction forms the 
present Scotch Woods settlement. In 1651, two of 
the largO!^t stock-holders of this Iron Company, re- 
siding in London, viz.j John Beex and Hobert Rich, 



21 

chartered a large ship, bound to Jamaica, to touch 
at Boston and land there 272 Scotch prisoners, taken 
from a lot of 8000 prisoners captured by Cromwell, 
September 3, 1650, at the battle of Dunbar. The 
ship arrived at Boston in May, 1651, and landed the 
prisoners, consigned to the agent of the Iron Works, 
and their names are all recorded in the Boston 
records. 

In July, of the same year, the E,ev. John Cotton 
wrote a letter to Cromwell, as follows : — " The Scots 
whom God delivered into your hands at Dunbar, and 
whereof sundry were sent hither, we have been de- 
sirous to make their yoke easy. Such as were sick 
of the scurvy or other diseases have not wanted 
physic and chirurgy. They have not been sold for 
slaves to perpetual servitude, but for six or eight 
years, as we do our own, and he that bought the 
most of them, I believe, buildeth houses for them, 
for every four an house, layeth some acres of land 
thereto, which he giveth them as their own, requir- 
ing three days in the week to work for him (by turns), 
and four days for themselves, and promiseth as soon 
as they can repay him the money he laid out for 
them, he will set them at liberty." 

I infer from these circumstances, that Beex and 
Rich, for themselves or the Company, thinking to 
get some income from their land, which without 
laborers was unproductive and inconvertible, em- 
barked in this speculation, and the mode of disclos- 
ing of the prisoners mentioned by Cotton, was only 
a form necessary to satisfy the public mind in the 
matter, and the men were employed on this land be- 



22 

longing to the freighters of the ship in the way 
described in this letter ; and thus originated the 
name, Scotch Woods, ever since attached to the 
spot. This supposition is confirmed by an act of the 
General Court, A. D. 1652, ordering that all Scotch- 
men and Negroes shall train — ■referring, doubtless, 
to their fii'st law exempting the laborers of the Iron 
Company from this duty. These persons may have 
been employed in cutting wood, or collecting bog 
ore for the Iron Company.* The result of this ope- 
ration was, that after a large outlay of capital, it 
was found that every pound of iron made, cost more 
than two pounds imported from Europe ; the Compa- 
ny failed, the Sheriff seized their effects, and their 
laborers were dispersed and mixed up with the 
general population of the country. The land was 
probably a conditional grant, and reverted to the 
town of Boston, from which corporation our towns- 
men bought it. 

The records of the town for nearly eight years 
from the beginning are missing, excepting that of a 
few births. Two years after the organization, Eob- 
ert Vose made a deed of eight acres of land, for a 
Meeting-house and other ministerial purposes, to 
eighteen trustees, probably every church member or 
freeman in the town.f ISo church organization was 
formed here till 1678, but the principal inhabitants 
w^re members of the Dorchester and Braintree 

* Governor Bridstreet writes, twenty years later, that some of the Dim- 
bar prisoners were still in bondiige. 

t Robert Vose, John Gill, Richard Collicot, Anthony Gulliver, William 
Paniels, Robert Ficdniiux, Anthony Newton, William Salisbury, Stephen 
Kinsley, .Samuel NVadsworth, James IIouj>hton, John Fenno, Henry Crane, 
David Ilomea, Robci't Tucker, Robert Badcock, Thomas Vose, Thomas Swift. 



23 

churches. Of these eighteen persons, eight have 
descendants still among us, and these families have 
inhabited the town during its whole existence, viz. : 
Robert Vose, Samuel Wadsworth, Anthony Gulliver, 
Robert Badcock, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, 
Robert Tucker and Henry Crane. The first tax list 
on record, of fifty-nine persons, is dated 1674, and 
the name of only one of our present families, Teague 
Crehore, is added to the above list of trustees in the 
interval from 1664 to 1674. jMany of the lots in the 
western part of the town were soon occupied, espe- 
cially at Brush Hill. 

George Sumner, whose father, William Sumner, 
of Dorchester, had drawn one of the large lots in 
that locality, occupied the same in 1662, and it still 
remains among his descendants in part. 

Robert Tucker, who had resided more than twen- 
ty years at Weymouth, came and purchased several 
adjoining lots. He brought a family of four sons 
and three daughters ; his oldest son 22 years of age. 

Thomas Swift, son of T. Swift, of Dorchester, 
married the only daughter of Mr. Yose, and is sup- 
posed to have occupied a part of the Glover farm, 
conveyed to him by his father-in-law. 

Ten years passed from the date of the incorpora- 
tion before a new Meeting-house was built, the small 
accommodation for w^orship in the eastern part of the 
town being made to suffice. Mr. Joseph Emerson 
officiated as the first minister for several years, under 
adverse circumstances part of the time. Great diffi- 
culty existed in the currency. The whole town, and 
a part of the adjoining town of Braintree, with all 



24 

their zeal for religious instruction, could not raise 
£53, or ^175, per annum, the stipulated salary. Mr. 
Emerson, who at first was passed about from one 
parishioner to another, made shift to live without em- 
barrassment, but venturing to marry the daughter of 
the Rev. Edward Bulkly, of Concord, and establish 
a house of his own, " the country pay," as it was 
called, in which he received most of his dues, com- 
pelled him to open a running accoimt with every man 
in the parish. Misunderstandings ensued, rendering 
his position disagreeable, and he accepted an invita- 
tion to settle at Mendon, and left the town in 1669, 

He was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Mighill, 
of Rowley, a graduate of Harvard College 1663, 
wdio continued here for eight years, till 1677. Dur- 
ing his term of service, in 1672, the new Meeting- 
house on the Vose lot, near the centre of the town, 
was built. This was a great effort, and many entries 
in the records relate to measures bearing on the 
subject. The principal resource seems to have been 
the timber and wood on the church lands, cut and 
hauled to the town landing by the parishioners. 
Twenty-two cords of wood were cut and sold to pay 
for clothes for the minister. ]Mr. Mighill was urged 
to settle permanently, but left here and accepted a 
settlement at Scituate. 

In 1678, April 24th, a church for Milton was con- 
stituted in the Meeting-house at Dorchester, by the 
assistance of the elders and delegates from the 
churches of Boston, Weymouth, Braintree and Ded- 
liam. Governor Leverett attended, but the rain and 
snow prevented many of the magistrates from being 



25 

present. Mr. Allen made the prayer, Mr. Flint 
preached, a confession of faith was repeated by the 
Dorchester Elder, nnto which they all consented. 
Twelve brethren entered into the covenant. INIr. 
Torrey, of Weymonth, gave the right hand of fellow- 
ship, and Mr. Mather made the concluding prayer. 

At this time, Rev. Samuel Mann, who had been 
driven from his parish at Wrentham by the Indian 
war, was engaged to preach here, and continued 
about two years, when his people collected again and 
he returned to them. 

Some other occurrences, simultaneous with this 
period, which affected the whole Colony, as well as 
our town, deserve mention. 

AYe had grown up into a vigorous community in 
a space of thirty-five years, not by the fostering care 
of the mother country, but by her neglect and en- 
grossing engagements elsewhere, although it must 
be confessed we did receive some encouragement 
from the partiality of Master Oliver. Now, in 1660, 
all this is over ; the King is restored again, and 
some active enemies of Massachusetts in England 
enter sundry complaints against us, and make the 
charge of various violations of the charter. The 
King appointed four Commissioners, armed with full 
power to come over and examine all grievances and 
correct all abuses. We had coined money without 
authority, encroachmg on the King's privilege, we 
had prohibited the exercise of all forms of worship 
except our own, especially that of the English Church, 
and would not allow the privileges of citizenship 
except to professors of a certain creed ; and then we 



26 

had sheltered certam regicides, who had compassed 
the death of the King's father ; and had committed 
various other misdemeanors. 

The arrival of these Commissioners caused much 
anxiety, and all the skill and diplomacy of our wisest 
men were used to parry these charges. Finally, by 
giving up the matter of church membership as a 
qualification of voters, promising to make no more 
Pine Tree Shillings, and making a sham effort to 
arrest the regicides, the Commissioners went home, 
and the Colony retained for a time longer the Char- 
ter. This result, so earnestly hoped for, was aided, 
greatly, by sundry ship-loads of masts, and other 
presents to the King. The great benefit to the Col- 
ony was the extension of the right of sufi'rago, which 
till then had been confined to a small part of the 
community ; and the consent of the Colony to tole- 
rate in future the service of the English Church, had 
the beneficial efi'ect of so far liberalizing the Colonial 
Government, that no farther prosecutions against 
other sects as heretical were enforced. The extreme 
rigor which characterized the first years of the Colo- 
ny were in some degree mitigated when our town 
commenced its corporate existence. 

Now commences a great struggle, which threatens 
the very existence of the Colony — Philip's Indian 
War. Philip, a name given by the English to the 
second son of Massasoit, the Sachem of the Pokano- 
ket Indians, with whom the Plymouth Pilgrims en- 
tertained such friendly relations, was now at the 
head of the tribe living at Mount Hope — a restless, 
ambitious person, and possessed of much ability. 



27 

He entertained the opinion that the English would 
soon control the whole country and destroy the 
native population, and conceived the idea that by 
the united action of all the native tribes, they mipiht 
be resisted or driven away. He cautiously enlisted 
the co-operation of most of the other tribes of New 
England in his plan. The matter was communicated 
to the authorities by one of Mr. Eliot's praying In- 
dians of Xatick. 

All New England was aroused. The Indians had 
acquired great skill in the use of fire-arms, and the 
number of fighting men among them was supposed 
to be superior to those of the whites. Philip appear- 
ed with a large force near Swanzey. But the hope 
of detaching some of the tribes from the alliance in- 
duced the Go^■ernment to send Capt. Edward Hutch- 
inson with a company of horse to Brookfield, to ne- 
gotiate with the Nipmug tribe. Hutchinson had a 
farm at jSIarlboro', and was personally known to the 
chiefs of this tribe, and they designated him as a 
person they would treat with. By appointment, he, 
with a part of his men, went to meet them in a wood 
or swamp, where a large body of Indians were con- 
cealed. Hutchinson and sixteen of his men were 
shot, mostly dead. He was carried down to Marl- 
boro', and died a day or two after. 

Tliis settled the character of the struggle, and a 
war of extermination began, which lasted fourteen 
months, durmg which almost every man in New 
England capable of bearmg arms was called into 
service. The Indians appeared in force in every di- 
rection — in the Old Colony at Scituate, Plymouth 



28 

and Rehobotli ; on Connecticut Eiver at Northamp- 
ton and Springfield ; in Middlesex at Groton and 
Sudbury ; also in Rhode Island, Connecticut and 
Maine. Milton being more sheltered than many 
other towns, became the refuge of several families 
from more exposed places, some of whom are still 
here by their descendants. Edward Adams came from 
Medfield, Roger Sumner and Ralph Houghton from 
Lancaster, and Thomas Davenport from Casco Bay. 

The Neponset Indians at Punkapog did not appear 
to belong to the conspiracy ; but, to make matters 
sure, the men of the tribe were all placed under the 
command of Quarter Master Thomas Swift, and re- 
moved first to Long Island in Boston Harbor, and 
afterwards brought up to Milton. Major Gookin, in 
his Indian History, says that Mr. Eliot and himself 
met every other week, in the wdnter of 1676, among 
the Punkapog Indians, who were brought from Long- 
Island and placed near Brush Hill in Milton, under 
the care of Quarter Master Swift. They came up 
late from the Island, yet they planted some ground 
procured for them by Major Swift, and they got 
some little corn. Their wives and children were 
there with them. 

The great interest to INIilton in this affair arose 
from the death of Capt. Wadsworth, and several 
young men belonging to the tow^n. Samuel Wads- 
w^orth, already mentioned as an early inhabitant, soon 
after his arrival married Miss Abigail Lindall, of 
Uuxbury, and spent most of his adult life here. He 
was an active, intelligent person, named in the Dor- 
chester Records before the incorporation of Milton. 



29 

was always occupied with the affairs of tlic planta- 
tion and the town, zealous in church matters and the 
mihtary organization, frequently chosen Selectman 
and Representative, and also a Jusrice to settle small 
causes. In the war of 1675 — G, he was appointed 
Captain of a company raised in this vicinity, partly 
in Milton, to serve the Colony. John Sharpc, of 
Brookline, was his Lieutenant. In April, 1676, he 
was ordered to move with his company to ]\Iarlhoro', 
to relieve Capt. Brocklcbank, of Kowley, supposed 
to be in peril at that place. AYadsworth and his 
company arrived safe and unmolested. On the 21st 
of April, news came to him that the Indians were 
burning the houses at Sudbury, the adjoining town. 
Wadsworth started with his company of eighty men 
to meet the foe. Seeing a few Indians, he pursued 
them into a swamp, when suddenly, from all direc- 
tions, emerged a cloud of savages, greatly outnum- 
bering his force. lie secured a retreat to a neighbor- 
mg hillj which he successfully defended four hours, 
with the loss of five men only. His ammunition 
was expended. The Indians set fire to the wood, 
when an attempt was made by the troops to force 
their way through the savage horde, and WadsA'sorth, 
Sharpe, Brocklebank and sixty-five men met their 
death. Fifteen only escaped to tell the tale. The 
names of his Milton companions are not preserved. 
Capt. Wadsworth left five sons, all of whom were 
respectable men. His youngest son, Benjamin, be- 
came President of Harvard College, and ercct(^d :i 
monument to his father, at Sudbury, which was re- 
newed about ten years smce, by the State. 



30 



The war ended in Augnst, 1676, with the death of 
Phihp, by the hand of one of his own men. The 
Indians had previously met defeat in every direction. 
Some of the leaders were executed at Boston ; many 
prisoners were sent to the West India Islands and 
sold as slaves ; and those who escaped, fled to tribes 
in the West. No formidable attack from the natives 
ever disturbed the Colony again, except as allies of 
our French neighbors in Canada, or instigated by 
them. 

The year 1682 closed the career of two of the 
oldest inhabitants, Robert Vose and Robert Tucker,* 
both over eighty years. Mr. Vose is not mentioned 
in the Dorchester Records until about the time of his 
purchase of the Glover farm in 1654 — -he was then 
past middle life, and his three children already of 
adult age. I have no means of knowing his an- 
tecedents. His whole career here exhibits him as 
a public-spirited man, who had brought up his chil- 
dren with care, and who spared no efforts to establish 
our community upon the surest foundation. Mr. 
Tucker had been residing in Weymouth, and all his 
large family were doubtless born in that place. He 
came to Milton about the time of the incorporation, 
and purchased several of the lots laid out and drawn 
by the inhabitants of Dorchester at Brush Hill. He 
was selected by Mr. Vose as one of the Trustees of 

* Robert Tucker was at AVcjmionth about the time that toAvn jWas incor- 
porated, in 1635, and is believed to have aet'onipanied a certain Association 
which came to New England about that time with the Rev. ^Ir. Hull, from 
the town of Weymouth, in Dorsetshire, giving that name to Wcssagusset. 
This conjecture is strengthened by the fact that several prominent families 
of the name of Tucker are inhabitants of that County. John Tucker, a 
resident of ^Veymouth, represented the borough of Weymouth and Melcom 
Kegis 111 I'arlianient, twenty years in succession, previous to our Revolution. 



31 

the cliurcli lot, was Selectman and Representative^ 
also llecorder of the town. lie was held m much 
esteem by his neighbors. He left a large family of 
four sons and four daughters, and his character and 
education during a long period exercised an impor- 
tant influence here. His hand-writing indicates a 
gentleman familiar with the pen. 

In 1G80 the toAvn was provided with a respectable 
house of public worship, and a regularly organized 
Church, but a permanent teacher was needed to 
guide the religious sentiment of the people. An 
over-ruling Providence seems to have directed their 
choice in the selection of the Rev. Peter Thatcher, 
whose eminent qualifications were especially fitted 
to the wants of the place. Fifty years later, Cotton 
Mather says of him — " The precious flock at Milton 
obtamed this gift of our ascended Saviour." ]\Ir. 
Thatcher's character and accomplishments entitled 
him to an extensive influence in this community, and 
he enjoyed it for nearly half a century. He was the 
son of Rev Thomas Thatcher, the fii'st minister of 
the Old South Chiu'ch in Boston, who had pre\iously 
been settled at Weymouth, where he resided at the 
birth of his son in 1651. He moved to Boston in 
166 J:, where the subject of this notice was fitted for 
College. He graduated at Plarvard m 1671, in the 
class with Chief Justice Sewall. He had been dis- 
tinguished in College for scholarship, and his services 
were secured by the Institution as a tutor for a con- 
siderable time after he graduated. On leaving the 
service of the College, he went to England, and there 
piu'sued his theological studies. The clerical pro- 



32 

fession had been followed by his ancestors for two 
generations at least. His grandfather was an emi- 
nent preacher at Old Sarum. While in Europe, he 
made great acquisitions in various departments of 
science, and that of medicine engaged his attention 
so far, that, during his Avhole life, his opinion was 
much sought for in that way. On his return from 
England, and before accepting any invitation to set- 
tle, he married (1677) Theodora Oxenbridge, the 
daughter of the minister of the First Church in 
Boston. He accepted a unanimous invitation from 
the Church at Milton, where he was ordained, Sep- 
tember, 1681. His pastorate here continued nearly 
forty-seven years, fully appreciated by his parish, and 
much esteemed throughout the Colony. His death, 
which occurred in November, 1727, was commemo- 
rated by a sermon of Cotton Mather's, said to be the 
last he ever preached, and also an ode composed by 
his classmate, Rev. John Danforth, of Dorchester. 
He was a philologist, studied, among others, the In- 
dian language, and frequently went to Punkapog to 
teach the Indians. His first wife died in 1697, at 
the age of thirty-eight, leaving three sons and a 
daughter, and in 1699 he married IMrs. Susan Bailey, 
Avidow of Rev. John Bailey, of Boston. His young- 
est son, Thomas, died here in 1721. Theodora, his 
only daughter, married Jonathan GulUver, of Milton. 
Oxenbridge and Peter graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege, and will be named in due course. 

Several sermons of Mr. Thatcher are in print — 
Election Sermon, 1711 ; on Mr. Mann's death, 1719 ; 
and others. 



33 

Among tlic uiimerous services lie rendered here, 
was the preparation of eight young men, natives 
of the town, for Harvard College, six of whom 
were educated for the ministry, all became valuable 
persons, and some of them distinguished. 

In 1G90, two sons of the town received their de- 
grees at Harvard ; viz., Benjamin Wads worth and 
Joseph Belcher. 

Benjamin Wadswortii, youngest son of C'apt. 
Samuel Wadsworth, was born at Milton in 1GG9, 
graduated at Harvard in 1690, studied for the minis- 
try, settled at the First Church in Boston in 1696, 
and, after a pastoral service of thirty years, was 
elected to preside over his Alma ]\Iater at Cam- 
bridge — a place which he filled with great accept- 
ance twelve years, till his death, in 1737. His 
character is portrayed in a sermon by llev. Thomas 
Foxcroft, and also more at length by Rev. William 
Emerson. Dr. Chauncy speaks of him as "a man 
of good learning, most pious, humble and prudent, 
and an excellent, plain, pathetical preacher." His 
death occurred at Cambridge. He left a widow, but 
no children.* 

Joseph Belcher, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Gill) 
Belcher, was born at Milton in 16()S. He inherited 
a large property from his grandfather, John Gill, 
when he was iifteen years of age, was educated for 
the ministry, ordained and settled at Dedham in 1693, 

* JoHX Wadsworth, son of Deacon John and Elizabeth Wadsworth, 
of Milton, born in 1703, graduated at Harvard College in 1723, studied for 
the ministry, and was ordained at Canterbury, Conn., Sept. 3d, 1729. Ho 
married Abigail Sproat, of Middlcborough, separated from his parish, and 
returned to Milton in 1712, which was his principal residence mitil his 
death, in 17Gi). He officiated in several other places professionally. 
5 



34 

where he officiated thhiy years with much satisfaction, 
and died in 1723. His family of two sons and three 
daughters returned to Milton, and for a time occu- 
pied their paternal estate at Mihon Hill (the Hutch- 
inson property). The eldest son, Joseph, graduated 
at College in 1717, lived here in 1734, and was 
Selectman of the town. Their property at Milton 
Hill was sold about 1740, to Thomas Hutchinson, 
and the residue of the Stoughton purchase, being 
the village property, was sold to Jeremiah Smith in 
1741. The family left the town at that time. 

Cotton Mather preached Mr. Belcher's funeral 
sermon. He calls him " a tree of righteousness, w^ho 
had all the fruits of the Holy Spirit growing upon 
him. Among the articles of his piety was conspi- 
cuous, well-governed speech and the management of 
the tongue, with which he prevented what the ancients 
considered as making half the sins of our lives ; a 
gentlemanly temper and carriage, with a sweetness 
of disposition which was a varnish upon these vir- 
tues and added more lustre unto them." As a 
preacher, he was greatly admired and followed. 

OXENBRIDGE ThATCHER, tllO oldcst SOU of RcV. 

Peter Thatcher, was born at Milton, in 1681, educa- 
ted for College by his father, entered at Harvard 
before the age of fourteen, and graduated in 1698. 
He is said to have studied for the ministry, and after 
preaching a few times changed his calling and en- 
gaged in trade at Boston, where he lived some twen- 
ty-five years, and was occasionally Representative of 
that town. After his fiither's death he returned to 
Milton, and occupied his place on Thatcher's plain 



35 

some forty years. He represented Milton occasionally, 
and died here in 1772, at the advanced age of nine- 
ty-one years. He is better known as the father of 
an eminent son, Oxenbridge Thatcher, the distin- 
gnishcd lawyer and patriot, who died at Boston in 
1767, at the early age of forty-five years. 

John Swift was the oldest son of Deacon Thomas 
Swift. He was born here in 1679, graduated at 
Harvard in 1697, and Avas settled as minister at 
Framingham, where he died, after a long service, 
in 1745. 

Mr. Peter Thatcher, the second son of our min- 
ister, was born in 1688, graduated at Harvard College 
in 1706, and after studying the clerical profession 
was ordained and settled at Middlcborough in 1709, 
and continued there thirty-five years, until his death, 
in 1744. Ecv. Thomas Prince, of the Old South 
Church, published his life, as an example of zcp,! 
and success as a revival preacher. 

Dr. Ebenezer Miller was the second son of 
Samuel Miller. He was born at Milton Hill m 1703, 
was prepared for College by Mr. Thatcher, and 
graduated at Harvard in 1722. He commenced the 
study of Divinity at once, and soon manifested a bias 
for the Episcopal form of worship. A few gentle- 
men at Braintrce, with similar tendencies, proposed 
to establish a Cluu'ch there, having assurances of 
aid from England for the furtherance of this project. 
For this purpose, Mr. Miller w^as encoui'aged to 
proceed to England and procure Episcopal ordina- 
tion (no Episcopal organization existing here). He 
was ordained by the Bishop of London as Deacon 



36 

and Priest, received the degrees of Master of Arts 
from the University of Oxford in 1727 and Doctor of 
Theology m 1747, and was appointed Missionary to 
Braintree, by the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts. He returned, and forth- 
with entered upon his duties, and continued there 
until his death, thirty-six years afterwards. Many 
persons of that persuasion in the neighboring towns 
attended his ministrations. I believe he was the 
first native of the Puritan Colony, authorized to 
preach under the Episcopal form. 

The Miller family are supposed to have emigrated 
early from Dorchester to Eehoboth, and during the 
Indian War, in 1676, to have left the latter x^lace. 

Mr. Samuel Miller first ajDpeard in Milton about 
1688, possibly led hither by the attractions of Miss 
Rebecca Belcher, with a nice jointure of sixty acres 
of land on Milton Hill, all of which became his on 
his marriage in 1690. He built his house on the lot 
at that time (the house stood where Mr. Dudley's 
residence now is, and was taken do^\Ti some fifty 
years ago), and there his numerous family were 
born. He was afterwards, in 1711, one of the 
Scotch Woods purchasers, and his eldest son. Col. 
Samuel INIiller, built his house there at an early day, 
and the property continued in the family until the 
Hevolution, when, in 1776, Stephen Miller, of the 
third generation, a much respected inhabitant of our 
town, joined the Royalist party and emigrated to the 
Province of New Brunswick, where he lived more 
than forty years, and died in 1817, aged ninety-one. 
He left numerous descendants, who are still among 



37 

the most respectable inhabitants of that Province. 
His house was the one now owned by Dr. Palmer. 

Allusion has already been made to the acquisition 
of the Blue Hill lands in 1711, by the purchase, from 
the town of Boston, of 3000 acres formerly granted 
to the Iron Company, and which reverted to that 
town from breach of condition. The grantees were 
Manasseh Tucker, Samuel Miller and John Wads- 
worth, all of IMilton. The Court refused to annex 
the whole purchase to Milton, but decreed that it 
should be divided as to jurisdiction between the 
towns of Braintree and Milton, 1500 acres to each. 

In addition to the foregoing, a large tract of land 
(doubtless a part of the new grant made to Dorches- 
ter in 1637), containing, perhaps, 1000 acres, bound- 
ed on the south-east by the Blue Hill river, and north- 
west by the old Milton line, was passed into our 
limits by consent of the town of Dorchester. This 
latter piece contains Houghton's pond, and all the 
lands within our borders above the stone monument 
near the late Thomas Hunt's house. 

By these acquisitions, in 1712 — 13, the area of 
the town Avas extended about 2500 acres, nearly one 
third of its present surface. The Blue ITill purchas- 
ers sold a portion of their lands before a division 
took place, reserving, however, a large part of the 
best of it for their own posterity. Deacon Manasseh, 
the youngest son of Robert Tucker, was about fifty- 
seven years of age at the time of the purchase, and 
continued to reside at the old homestead at Brush 
Hill till his death, in 1743, aged eighty-nine years. 
But his eldest son, Capt. Samuel, then about twenty- 



38 

six years old, laid out a farm and moved very soon 
to the new purchase. The same was done by young 
Samuel Miller, as already related, and one of Deacon 
Wadsworth's sons occupied the lot next adjoining 
the old Wadsworth property. The remainder was 
soon sold to other persons, and has ever since 
formed an important section of the town.* 

During the latter part of Mr. Thatcher's life, an 
unimportant subject caused much strife m the town, 
if we may judge from the records. It was agreed 
by all that a new meeting-house of larger propor- 
tions must be constructed, and the point at issue 
was the locality of the new structure. Many town- 
meetings were holden, and decided votes were passed 
on this subject for seven years, but all proceedings 
were delayed or frustrated by protests of the minori- 
ty. The inhabitants of the east section were a 
majority, but occasionally a vote for removing far- 
ther west from the locality, on the Vose farm, would 
prevail ; and the year after Mr. Thatcher's death, by 
aid of the General Court, it was built on the road 
in front of the present church, three eighths of a 
mile west of the old spot — a building 50 by 40, 28 
feet high, with a belfry. 

Mr. Thatcher, who died in November, 1627, aged 
77 years, besides witnessing the success of his 
efforts in advancing many of the sons of the town 
in the paths of distinction and success, also attended 
the departure of all the founders of the town, most 
of them at a very ripe age — Anthony Gulliver, 87; 

* In 1702, Governor Stougliton bequeathed, by will, to the town of 
Jlilton, the " poor man's lot," of forty acres, ■where our poor house is 
situated. 



39 

Henry Crane, 85 ; Thomas Swift, 82; Eobert Vose, 
82; Eobert Tucker, 80 ; George Sumner, 80. All 
these famihes have ever shice been remarkable for 
longevity. The simple lives of the fathers, from 
whom their posterity inherited strong bodies, have 
been models of industry to many generations of their 
descendants, scattered over the continent. 

We have now, 1730, reached a new era in our 
history — the ordination of another minister, the build- 
ing of a new meeting-house, and a considerable 
accession to our taxable property by the settlement 
among us of sundry persons of wealth and importance 
from the neighboring town of Boston. 

The Eev. John Taylor, after preaching several 
months, was invited to settle here, and was ordained 
on the 13th of November, 1728. Mr. Foxcroft, of 
the Old South Church, Boston, preached the ordina- 
tion sermon, which is in print. 

Mr. Taylor was born in Boston, in 1 704, and was 
the son of Mr. John Taylor, who came to Boston 
from Wales in the latter part of the seventeenth 
century. Mr. Taylor, the elder, married Ann Wins- 
low, the daughter of Edward Winslow, of the Pilgrim 
family. (She survived her son, and died in Milton 
in 1773, at the advanced age of 95 years.) Shortly 
after the birth of the E-ev. Mr. Taylor, his parents 
moved to the Island of Jamaica, w^here they had four 
more chikben ; Adz., Col. William Taylor, whose 
descendants are still with us, and three daughters. 
Mr. Taylor, the father, died in Jamaica, and his 
widow, with her young family, returned to her native 



40 

country. She educated her son John at Plarvard 
College, where he graduated in 1721, in the class 
Avitli Dr. Charles Chauncy, with whom he kept up 
an intimate friendship until his death. Two years 
after his settlement here, he married Elizabeth, the 
daughter of Hev. Nathaniel Rogers, of Portsmouth, 
N. H. They had three sons and one daughter. 
Mrs. Taylor died in 1735, at the early age of twenty- 
seven years, and some years afterwards Mr. Taylor 
married the sister of his first wife, Miss Dorothy 
Eogers, who survived her husband. Mr. T. left three 
sons and one daughter, Mrs. Ann Oilman, of Exeter. 
Mr. Taylor died here in 1750, at the age of 46 
years. Dr. Chauncy writes the following sketch of 
him, to Dr. Stiles:— "Mr. John Taylor, of Milton, 
and I, were playmates when little boys, went to 
school together, were classmates at College, and all 
along until his death in close friendship with each 
other. He was an agreeable, pleasant companion, 
and a friend that might be depended upon. His 
diffidence of himself and modesty of temper, re- 
strained him from preaching much from home, and 
produced in him a settled determination that nothing 
of his should appear in the world. Upon his dying 
bed, he left his papers with me, with this positive 
charge, that I would take the fh'st opportunity after 
he was dead to commit them to the flames, which I 
accordingly did. He was rather an agreeable than 
a great man, rather pretty and delicate in his senti- 
ments and expressions, than strong and nervous. 
His head was clear, though not the strongest. Eew 
were more universally beloved while they lived, and 



41 



lamented when dead among those of their acquaint- 
ance."* The births of his chikU*en, as recorded in 
the Milton records, are — John, born in 1731 ; Na- 
thaniel, born in 17'3-4 ; William, born in 1735 ; and 
Ann, his only daughter, born in 1732, married 
Nicholas Gilman, of Exeter, State Treasurer of New 
Hampshire, parents of Gov. John Taylor Gilman, 
Nicholas Gilman of the U. S. Senate from 1805 to 
1814, and Nathaniel Gilman of the Senate of New 
Hampshhe. He built the house adjoining the meet- 
ing-house lot — now occupied by his relatives — soon 
after his settlement, the town voting to furnish the 
timber from the church lands. 

The new inhabitants referred to at this time, were 
the Governor of the Province, Jonathan Belcher ; 
the Provincial Treasurer, Mr. Foye ; Col. Joseph 
Gooch, James Smith, Thomas Hutchinson, and 
others. I presume this movement was caused in a 
great degree by the uncertain condition of the Mas- 
sachusetts currency, which rendered real estate invest- 
ments desirable for capitalists. The Indian wars, 
and more particularly the wars with our French 
neighbors, who possessed the present British Pro- 
vinces of Nova Scotia and Canada, wars precipitated 
upon the New England Colonies by the complications 
of European politics, rather than any direct cause of 
.quarrel between the contending parties, had mvolved 
the Province in great indebtedness, which was fol- 
lowed by the usual expedients of paper promises. 
The precious metals had enthely vanished, and the 

* Rev. Mv. T. Thatcher speaks of him as " remarkable for his hij^h rank 
in the republic of letters, for his uniform virtues, and elegant social manners." 



42 

whole currency consisted of Provincial Bills, for 
which no redemption was provided. "Within ten 
years, ending with 1728, their value had fallen one 
half, and a prospect of farther depreciation was in 
full view. None of these parties continue among 
us by their posterity, at the present day, but their 
improvements are still visible, and there presence 
here added value to property, gave additional im- 
portance to our community, and they require a slight 
notice on this occasion. 

Jonathan Belcher, the son of Andrew Belcher, 
a rich merchant of Boston, was born there in 
1681. He was educated w-itli care, and graduated 
at Harvard College in 1699. An exemplary youth, 
and the chief hope of his father, after leaving Col- 
lege he travelled abroad, and spent six years in 
visiting various parts of Europe, and during this 
time made the acquaintance of a young Hanoverian 
Prince, who afterwards became King of England as 
George II. ; a circumstance which influenced Bel- 
cher's subsequent fortunes.* He came home, and 
busied himself in his father's mercantile operations. 
In 1706 he married the daughter of William Part- 
ridge, Lieut. Governor of the Provinces of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, who then resided at 
Piscataqua, now Portsmouth. The newspapers con- 
tained a long description of the wedding. His father 
died in 1717, having been many years member of the 
Council, and Jonathan is immediately chosen to 
fill his place, inherits his fortune, and invests largely 

* At this time he formed an intimacy with Dr. Isaac Watts, the poet, 
with whom he kept up a contiiaucd correspondence till the death of the 
latter m 1748. 



43 

in lands in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut. 
About the year 1727, he purchased a considerable 
landed property here of Thomas Ilolman and Samuel 
Kinsley (the present E.owe estate). Soon after this 
he was sent to England, as agent of the Province, to 
adjust several important matters. In his absence 
occurred the death of Gov. Burnet, at Boston, and 
Belcher being in London, obtained the appointment 
of Governor of Massachusetts, and arrived at Boston 
with his Commission in 1730.* His admmistration 
continued eleven years, and needs no comment, as it 
is a part of the Provincial history. He soon began 
his imx^rovements here, built his house, and laid out 
his grounds, much under the supervision of Col. 
Samuel Swift, second son of Deacon Thomas Swift. 
liis style of living differed very much from the 
ordinary mode of life here. His official position 
and fortune justified the maintenance of a large 
retinue of servants and equipages, and entertaining 
much company from abroad.f His public duties pre- 
vented him from spending much time here, and the 
management of his property devolved mainly upon 
his son Andrew. 

* Gov. Belcher seems to have had no dislike to a little parade, although 
he is usually described as a very humble christian gentleman. He came 
from England in the Blandford Frigate, his expected arrival having previous- 
ly been announced, and great preparations made at Boston for his reception. 
Dr. Isaac Watts, the poet, an intimate friend of Belcher, wrote an ode of 
some ten verses on the occasion, -which -was printed in the News-letter. I 
recollect two lines of them which I saw in a newspaper many years ago. 

t In May, 1740, Governor Belcher's servant ran away, and was thus ad- 
vertised : — 

" The Govemour's Negro Juba having absented himself, it is desired who- 
ever may find him would convey him home. — He had on when he went 
away, a Gold laced Hat, a Cinnamon coloured Coat, with large flat brass 
Buttons, and cuffed with red Cloth, a dark coloured Waste-coat edged with 
a worsted Lace, leather Breeches, yarn Stockings, a pair of trimmed Pumps, 
TV'ith a very large pair of flowered Brass Buckles." 



44 

Governor Belclier was removed from his office in 
1741, principally by the influence of a powerful 
party, known as the Land Bank projectors, whose 
schemes he opposed. He was afterwards appointed 
Governor of New Jersey, where he died, in 1756, 
after a service of ten or twelve years. He was the 
founder and promoter of Princeton University in that 
State, and President Burr preached his funeral ser- 
mon, wherein his virtues are highly exalted, and his 
valuable services in relation to the institution fully 
stated. His son Andrew continued in occupation of 
the family property in Milton many years, and often 
represented the town in the Legislature ; he died here 
in 1771.* In 1776 the Belcher house was burnt. It 
was then occupied by the two Mrs. Belchers — the 
Governor's widow, an elderly lady, and Andrew's wid- 
ow, much younger — both without children. They took 
refuge during the winter with their friend, Mrs. Forbes, 
then living at Brush Hill. Madam B. died soon 
after, and the younger lady returned to England. 
The estate then passed into the hands of John 
Howe, Esq., a large capitalist of Boston. 

Mr. William Foye bought his property here of 
the Daniels family, in 1728, and built the mansion 
now owned and occupied by Mr. Littlefield. He 
was a native of Boston, son of a Huguenot French- 
man, was about 50 years of age when he came here, 
and had before employed himself in commerce. 
About this time he was elected Treasurer of the 

* His second son, Jonathan, graduated at Harvard College in 1728, 
went to England and studied law at the Temple, resided some years in 
England, and afterwards served as Governor azid Chief Justice of Nova 
Scotia, where he died in 1776. 



45 

Province, and filled that station during part of Gov. 
Belchers term. He died here about 1759, at an 
advanced age, leaving a widow and daughter, both 
of wdiom lived to a great age ; also a son William, 
noticed among the College graduates. The daughter. 
Miss Elizabeth Foye, died here in 1807, in her 9()th 
year. Dr. Samuel Gardiner, who practised physic 
here before the Revolution, married Mr, Eoye's 
grand-daughter. Miss Mary Cooper. 

Col. Joseph Gooch came to Milton, from Braintree, 
about the year 1740. He bought land of the Miller 
family, built the Chiu'chill house on INIilton Hill, and 
lived here some thirty years. The best account of 
him I have seen is in the diary of President John 
Adams (no friend of Gooch, certainly), being part 
of a letter written to Jonathan Mason. "Joseph 
Gooch," he writes, " a native, I believe, of Boston, 
had a considerable property, and w^as reputed to be 
very rich. He had been educated at the Temple, 
in England, and returned to Boston to practise law, 
but had very little success. He had been a man of 
pleasure, and bore the indelible marks of it on his 
face to the grave. He Avas extremely ambitious, 
and the Rev. Mr. Niles, of Braintree, who was well 
acquainted with him, told me he was the most pas- 
sionate man he ever knew. Not succeeding much 
at the bar in Boston, he had recourse to religion, to 
assist him ; he joined the Old South Chiu-ch, to avail 
himself of the influence of the sisterhood and set 
up for Representative of the town of Boston, but 
failed ; and disappointed of his hopes in law and poli- 
tics, he renounced the city, came up to Braintree, hired 



46 

Pi house, turned cllurcliman, and set himself to intrigu- 
ing for promotion, both in military and civil depart- 
ments. He interceded with the favorites of Gov. 
Shirley, in this place, to procure him the commission 
of Colonel in the Regiment of Militia, and an elec- 
tion for Representative of the town in the General 
Court. He promised to build a steeple to their 
church at his own expense. Assiduous importunity 
was employed with the Governor to procure him the 
command of the Regiment, but this could not be 
obtained without cashiering the Colonel then in pos- 
session. Col. John Quincy had been in public life 
from his early youth, had been nearly twenty years 
Speaker of the House, and many years member of 
the Council, and was as much esteemed and respect- 
ed as any man in the Province. He was not only an 
experienced and venerated Statesman, but a man of 
letters, taste, and sense. Gov. Shirley was prevailed 
on, with great difficulty, to perform the operation of 
dismissing so faithful a servant of the public, and 
adopting one of so equivocal a character, and he 
said, some years afterwards, that nothing he had 
ever done in his administration had given him so 
much pain as removing so venerable a magistrate 
and officer as Col. Quincy. But the Church party 
had insisted upon it so peremptorily, that he could not 
avoid it — probably he dreaded their remonstrances 
to the Archbishop of Canterbury. These facts 
were current at the time Gooch was appointed Colo- 
nel, and Quincy dismissed." 

" The next thing to be done was to remodel the 
subordinate officers in the Regiment. Application 



47 

was made to all the officers in that part of the Regi- 
ment, which lies within the three parishes of the 
ancient town of Braintree, to see if they wonlcl ac- 
cept commissions under Col. G., and agree to vote 
for him as Representative of the town. The then 
present officers were men among the most respecta- 
ble inhabitants in point of property, understanding, 
and character. They rejected the proposition with 
scorn. An entire new set were appointed. It was 
at this time that the corrupt practice of treating at 
elections was introduced. Gooch, under the influ- 
ence of all this machinery, obtained an election as 
Representative, but the next year he was turned out, 
which so enraged him, that he left Braintree, re- 
nounced the church, refused to build the steeple, 
built him a house on Milton Hill, and there passed 
the remainder of his days." 

Thomas Hutchinson, the last Provincial Governor 
of Massachusetts, was long an inhabitant of Milton, 
and until the political storm which preceded the Re- 
volution began, was held in great esteem by all his 
neighbors and friends here. He was the son of Col. 
Thomas Hutchinson, a rich merchant of Boston, of 
great liberality and public spirit, and many years of 
the Council. Thomas, 2d, was born in 1711, was 
carefully educated, and graduated at Harvard in 1727. 
At first he employed himself in mercantile business, 
but soon wearied of this pursuit, and betook himself 
to the study of law and politics. He was first chosen 
a member of the House of Representatives in the 
year 1737, and Selectman of Boston in 1738. 
About this time, 1739, his father died, leaving him 



48 

an ample property. He had married Miss Margaret 
Sandford, of Newport, the year before. In 1740 
he was employed to go to England upon public 
business relating to our currency. He continued to 
represent the town of Boston in the House nine 
years, during three of which he filled the Speaker's 
chair. He was distinguished for eloquence and in- 
dustry in the House, and soon acquired extensive 
influence. He was chosen into the Council in 1750, 
and became Judge of Probate for Suffolk County. 
In 1760 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Colo- 
ny and Lieutenant Governor. Gov. Bernard left the 
Colony in 1769, and the duties of Governor then de- 
volved upon Mr. H. He receiAcd the commission 
of Governor the following year, and held this office 
until 1774, when he embarked for England, leaving 
his native land forever. 

He purchased, in 1743, of Joseph Belcher's heirs, 
100 acres of land on Milton Hill, and built the house 
now occupied by the Russell family, and resided 
there a large part of the time for thirty years. He 
was very fond of rural pursuits, especially gardening, 
and, being active in his habits, was often seen help- 
ing his gardener in removing plants and grafting 
trees, and his social habits led him into friendly re- 
lations with most of the inhabitants. After the 
mob invaded his house in Boston, in 1765, he spent 
most of his time here. 

The greatest service Gov. Hutchinson rendered to 
the public, was in writing the History of Massachu- 
setts, which is the most reliable source of information 
on that subject existing, and will perpetuate his 



49 

name long after his political errors have been forgot- 
ten. He had many active enemies among the lead- 
ers of the Eevohition, who were never weary of 
representmg his errors, and not seldom in amplifying 
them. He certainly staked everything on the losing 
side, was exiled from his native land, and his large 
property was confiscated. He died at Brompton, 
near London, before the war ended, aged 69 years, 
and his numerous posterity are still living in England. 
His life was exemplary, and his private character 
unimpeachable. 

Among his personal effects, confiscated and taken 
from his house on Milton Hill, which were conveyed 
to Col. Taylor's barn and sold publicly, were found 
a large mass of his private letters and papers, which 
were sold by the finder to the State of Massachusetts, 
for £50, and now are bound in several large folio 
volumes at the State House (said to have been dis- 
covered by the purchaser of some feather beds, in 
which they were concealed). 

Gov. Hutchinson was accused of grasping and 
monopolizing public offices ; but his nomination as 
Chief Justice was made at the solicitation of most 
of the prominent lawyers of the Province, and his 
judicial career was highly successful, as he had, it was 
said, a remarkable power in clearly stating cases to 
the Juries ; and he actually refused, for some time, 
the commission of Governor, on account of the ap- 
proaching troubles, and finally yielded to the solici- 
tations of the ministry, who kept the place vacant, 
waiting his decision. I have a letter written by him 
from England, three years after he left here, wherein 

7 



50 

he says — "I have advantages here beyond most of 
the Americans, but I prefer natale solum to all other, 
and yet hope I may settle peaceably agam at Unquety 
Hill. I hope to live to see not only my Milton neigh- 
bors, but the people of the Province in general, 
convinced that I have ever sincerely aimed at their 
true interest, &c." 

James Smith bought, in 1731, of the heirs of 
Samuel Trescott, George Sumner and others, several 
tracts of land at Brush Hill, adjoining the Dorches- 
ter Church lands, and built his house (the same now 
occupied by J. M. Eobbins), and made many expen- 
sive improvements. Smith Avas a large capitalist of 
Boston, at that time about 46 years of age, and had 
made great additions to his fortune by the business 
of refining sugar. His sugar house stood next be- 
low Brattle-street Church, in Boston, and was the 
building occupied by Dalrymple's regiment in 1769 
and 1770, known in history as Smith's or Murray's 
barracks, whence Capt. Preston's company proceeded 
to State Street at the massacre of March 5th. He 
lived at Brush Hill most of the time for thirty-five 
years. He had no childi-en. His wife, who survived 
him, was Miss Elizabeth Murray, a Scotch lady of 
the Philiphaugh family in Selkirkshire. He died in 
1769. Drake, in his history of Boston, has the fol- 
lowing notice : — " On the 3d of August, Mr. James 
Smith died at his seat at Brush Hill, Milton, at the 
age of 81 ; had been many years a sugar refiner in 
Boston, and his remams were brought into town and 
buried from the house of James Murray, Esq., in 
Queen Street." In the Boston Gazette of Feb. ith, 



51 

1769, is the following: — "Last Thursday was mar- 
ried at Brush Hill (seat of James Smith, Esq.), in 
Milton, Hev. Jno. Forbes, of St. Augustme, to Miss 
Dolly Murray, daughter of Hon. James Murray, 
Esq., of Boston." Mr. Murray was the brother of 
Mrs. Smith, and resided some thirty years in Caro- 
lina, as a planter, and was a member of the Council 
of that Province. In 1765, having lost his wife and 
several children, he moved to Boston with his two 
surviving daughters, afterwards Mrs. Forbes and 
Mrs. E. H. llobbins. Murray became executor to 
Smith's will. Mr. Smith gave his w^hole property 
to his "SA'idow, wdio married Mr. E-alph Inman, of 
Cambridge, in 1771, on which occasion she gave her 
Milton property to her two nieces. 

OxENBRiDGE Thatcher, Jr., who has already been 
alluded to, in speaking of his father, merits fiu'ther 
notice. Born at Milton in 1720, he graduated at 
Harvard College in 1738, and studied law with Jere- 
miah Gridley, Attorney General of the Province ; 
established himself at Boston, and rose to distinction 
in his profession very soon. lie w^as gentle in his 
manners, but very eloquent. He soon enlisted in 
politics, and was one of the early movers in the 
Revolutionary struggle, although his life ended 
before his views were realized. Mr. Adams, in de- 
scribing the great case of Writs of Assistance, 
against the application of which Otis and Thatcher 
were engaged in 1761, says, "Then and there w^as 
the first scene of the first act of opposition to the arbi- 
trary claims of Great Britain. Then and there the 



52 

child Independence was born." Thatcher died of 
consumption, in 1765, at the early age of 45 years. 

Samuel Swift, second son of Col. Samuel Swift, 
of Milton, was born here in 1715, graduated at 
Cambridge in 1735, and many years practised law 
in Boston. President Adams speaks of him often 
in his diary. He says, in' 1766, "Spent the evening 
at Sam. Adams's very socially with brother Swift." 
Again, in 1812, in a letter to William Wirt, who 
was writing the life of Patrick Henry, he says, 
" Among the illustrious men who were agents in the 
Revolution, must be remembered the name of Samuel 
Swift." He died at Boston in 1775, I believe 
immarried. 

Nathaniel Tucker, youngest son of Capt. Samu- 
el Tucker of Scotch Woods, was born there in 1725, 
and graduated at Harvard in 1744. He studied for 
the ministry, and settled in New Jersey, where he 
married, and very early died, in 1748. He had a 
posthumous son Nathaniel, born in 1748, who with 
his mother came to Massachusetts not long after. 
The widow became the wife of Samuel Davenport, 
of this town, and the son married a Miss Dalton, of 
Boston, and was the father of Richard D. and 
Nathaniel Tucker. He died here in 1776. 

Seth Adams, the son of Edward Adams, Jr., v/as 
born here in 1713, graduated at Harvard in 1733, 
and died at his father's house in 1736, aged 23 years. 

William Foye, Jr., son of Treasurer Foye, born 
at Boston in 1716, was graduated at Harvard in 1735, 
went to Nova Scotia before his father's death, where 
his relative, Jonathan Belcher, afterwards Chief 



53 

Justice, was settled. He became Colonel of Militia, 
and Provost Marshal of Halifax, which office he 
held twenty-two years. He died there in 1771. 

Joseph Gooch, the only son of Col. Gooch, was 
born in 1728, and graduated in 1747. After his 
father's death. Dr. Pierce says, he moved to Vermont, 
where he devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, 
and died there in 1811, aged 83. 

Benjamin Pratt was born of humble parents, and 
after attaining adult age, by an accident lost his leg, 
which circumstance occasioned an entire change in 
his career. He applied himself to study, entered 
College at an advanced standing, and graduated in 
1737. Robert Auchmuty, the eminent judge and 
admiralty lawyer, befriended him, instructed him in 
his profession, and gave him his daughter in mar- 
riage. He soon rose to eminence, and took the first 
rank in his profession. He figured in law and poli- 
tics about twenty years in Massachusetts. John 
Adams, in describing the Court before whom was 
argued the case of " Writs of Assistance," by Otis 
and Thatcher, thus describes Pratt : — " In a corner 
of the room must be placed wit, sense, imagination, 
genius, pathos, reason, prudence, eloquence, learn- 
ing, science and immense reading, hung by the 
shoulders on two crutches, covered with a cloth 
great-coat, in the person of Mr. Prat." He was 
nominated Chief Justice of New York, where his 
consummate ability secured him the esteem of all 
parties. He died there in 1763, aged 54. In 1755, 
he purchased 150 acres of land at Milton Hill, and 
erected the house recently taken down by Mr. Brooks. 



54 

His short and busy life left little time to enjoy his 
Milton property. His only child, Isabella, married 
Samuel Welles, of Boston, whose family held the 
property some seventy years. 

Mr. Taylor's death occurred in January, 1750, at 
the age of 46 years ; and the whole of that year 
was employed by the people of Milton m listening 
to a great variety of candidates with a view to select- 
ing his successor. On the 31st day of December, 
the E,ev. Nathaniel Robbius, a young man of 24 
years, was chosen by the church and congregation. 
The vote stood, 70 to 2 ; settlement, £T,000 old 
tenor, equal to ^500, and a salary of £500, or $250, 
per annum, and twenty-five cords of wood. The or- 
dination occurred on the 13th of February following, 
with very considerable formality; several of the 
neighboring houses were used by the town for the 
entertainment of the numerous delegations which 
attended. The E.ev. Samuel Cook, of West Cam- 
bridge, preached the sermon, which is in print. 
Kev. Samuel Niles, of Braintree, gave the charge, 
and Kev. John Bailey the right hand of fellowship. 

Kev. Nathaniel Robbins was the second of seven 
sons of Thomas Robbins, of West Cambridge, where 
he was born in 1726, and where he spent his early 
youth and was fitted for College. He graduated at 
Harvard m 1747, and availing himself of the ad- 
vantages then as now furnished by that vicinity, he 
completed his theological studies there, mainly di- 
rected, I think, by the Rev. Samuel Cooke, of his 
native parish. As already mentioned, he commenced 



55 

his clerical career at Milton early iu 1751, where 
he continued a long and harmonious course of minis- 
terial duty, covering nearly forty-five years — the best 
evidence of the faithful discharge of his duties ^^iiich 
can be offered. He is said to have been a kind, 
self-forgetting man, very active when he could be of 
service to others, of very reliable judgment in the 
ordinary affairs of life, which added much to the in- 
fluence Avhich his position as spiritual guide of the 
parish naturally gave him. He was a respectable 
preacher, without being distinguished as a learned 
theologian, indulged very little in polemical discus- 
sions, and preserved friendly relations with his breth- 
ren in the ministry. Some of his sermons on public 
occasions are in print — one preached at the ordina- 
tion of Dr. Peter Thatcher, at Maiden, 1771 ; at the 
ordination of Kev. Benjamin Wadsworth, at Dan- 
vers, 1772; the election sermon of 1772. Mr. Rob- 
bins was elected by the town to attend the Conven- 
tion which adopted the Federal Constitution, in 1788, 
which he supported. His sympathies were given to 
the Revolutionary struggle ; two of his brothers 
were in Capt. Parker's company at Lexington, on 
the 19th of April. He purchased, in 1752, of An- 
thony Gulliver, a tract of land where he soon after 
erected his house (the present Amory house), and 
by subsequent purchases he acquired a considerable 
farm. In 1757, he married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Edward Hutchinson, of Boston, uncle of Gov. T. 
Hutchinson, who for many years officiated as Judge 
of Probate for Suffolk County, and thirty years as 
Treasurer of the College. 



56 

Mr. Kobbins had two sons and a daughter. The 
latter died hi 1786, unmarried, at 25 years of age. 
His youngest son, Nathaniel Johnson, died in 1799, 
a graduate of Harvard College 1784; his eldest, 
Edward Hutchinson, well known to many of the 
present generation, died in 1829, aged 72. The 
wife of Mr. E. died in 1793, at the age of 62. 

The E,ev. Mr. Eobbins terminated his earthly pil- 
grimage on the 19th day of INIay, 1795, aged 69, and 
his death was commemorated by a funeral discourse, 
preached by his old pupil and life-long friend, Thomas 
Thatcher, of Dedham, which is in print.* 

* The following extract is from the Sermon alluded to : — 

'« When we speak of his publick performances, we assert that they were 
such, as would produce the most salutary effects on a general audience. 
He studied the holy scriptures, and made them the rule of his faith and 
practice. He refused to call any man master on earth, or to sacriiice truth to 
prevailing opinions, however conducive to popularity, to consideration and 
consequence. Such candor and liberal principles were the more deserving 
of praise, since, in the first periods of his ministry, such a spirit and tem- 
per were not common. His stability preserved this Church from those divi- 
sions and separation, arising from the fumes of enthusiasm and a fanatick 
spirit, which in those days too much prevailed, and ruined some of the 
most respectable christian societies in the land. His manner of preaching 
was plain and pathetick ; he appeared to have a dislike to a florid style, to 
false ornaments, and to affectation of literature. Agreeable to the senti- 
ments of St. Paul, who considered the j^omp of toords as inconsistent with 
the majesty of thin-gs, that the doctrines of the gospel and its p^'ecepts were of 
themselves sublime, and needed not to be embellished with human elo- 
quence. 

" In prayer he was remarkable for copiousness and facility of expression, 
and at funerals in particular, he M'as admired for a variety of pathetick sen- 
timents, pertinent to every person immediately concerned, and to each inci- 
dent that occurred. In general we may remark of his pulpit talents, that 
though his natural genius was rather adapted to active than contemjilative 
life ; yet he obtained a degree of reputation and popularity, both in his 
own and in other societies, fsir beyond mediocrity. 

" He was possessed of a large share of sagacity and penetration ; he had 
a very accurate acquamtance with human nature ; this enabled him, even 
though he lived miich in retirement, to make just and pertinent observations 
on men and things, and besides, qualified him for the other parts of his pas- 
toral office. He was remarkable for his wisdom and address in conciliating 
private disputes ; the salutary use of these prmciples was evident in two 
effects. The first in securhig peace and good neighborhood at home, by the 
unbounded confidence they reposed in his honor and integrity ; the other 
wad in ecclesiastical couucils in the viciuity, where he has by wise, prudent 



57 

In the summer of 1769, Rev. George AVhitefield 
preached at MiUon, to the largest assembly ever con- 
vened in the town. A person present, mformed mc 
that Mr. W. stood upon a staging erected outside of 
the windows, so great was tlie crowd. 

During the two years succeeding the death of Mr. 
E,obbins,the parish was occupied in listening to various 
candidates, but no choice was made until the hitter 
part of 1797, when the town united in an invitation 
to Ixcv. Joseph McKean, a young gentleman of twen- 
ty-one years, of superior abilities, Avho accepted the 
call, and was ordained in November, 1797. Mr, 
McKean was the son of William McKean, a Scotch 
gentleman who came to this country a few years be- 
fore the Revolution, and at the time of the birth 
of his son, in 177G, was a resident of Ipswich, Es- 



and judicious advice, terminated the most obstinate disputes, when he had 
to nmnage nu-n of the most refractory tempers — and yet was happy in re- 
conciling contending interests, where there scarcely appeared a rational 
prospect of success. Neither should we omit, in addition to his conciliat- 
ing manners, his suavity of temper and candor towards all men. No ab- 
sent character could be mentioned in his presence with censure, without his 
off.-ring an apology: He carried his amiable quality so far, that, even when 
those were mentioued who were blasted and tlagitious, it was his custom to 
suggest an extenuation, if possible. If such charity will cover a multitude 
of the sins of others, ought it not to veil every fault in the character of him 
who possesses it? 

♦' United to his social qualities he had a pleasing talent for conversation. 
This rendered his occasional visits and interviews highly agreeable, and 
conveyed a brilliancy to the circle he was with. But still, this fiicotious 
turn was united with the dignity and authority of the christian pastor. 

" lie was equally worthy of praise for his attention to those pastoral du- 
ties of visiting the" sick, and comforting the afflicted. The chambers of the 
dying, the bereaved and the disconsolate — the habitation of the poor de- 
cayed friend, can all testify how much his feeling heart was struck with 
every form of calamity, and he was ready to sooth the wounded spirit with 
the consolations of religion. It Mould "be highly blameable in me to omit 
the patronage and attention which he showed to young gentlemen who 
were natives of this place, when pursuing their studies at the University. 
I should be ungrateful if I omitted the numerous civilities I received from 
him at that period of life, which together with his judicious and prudent 
advice, rendered the loss of my parents the less sensibly felt." 
8 



58 

sex County, whence he removed to Boston, at the 
peace of 1783. The son is said to have indicated 
in his childhood nncommon powers, was entered 
early in the public schools at Boston, and at the age 
of 11 years was placed with Dr. Pemberton, at An- 
dover, who prepared him for College, where he was 
admitted in 1790. He sustained a high rank through 
his academical career, was distinguished in mathe- 
matics, and graduated in 1794. He taught school 
at Ipswich, and also in the Academy at Berwick, for 
two or three years, during which period he found 
time to pursue his theological studies, directed by 
Dr. Joseph Dana, and also Dr. John Elliot, of Bos- 
ton. He was approved by the Boston Association 
in 1797, but a short time before he began to preach 
at Milton. He was studious in his habits, with a 
fine command of language, a natural eloquence, and 
much esteemed as a preacher. Great hopes were 
entertained, that a long and useful career of pastoral 
duty was in reserve for him. The town erected a 
house upon the church lands for him in 1798 (now 
Mrs. Gile's house), and in the year after, 1799, he 
married Miss Swasey, of Ipswich. A growing repu- 
tation abroad, and an increasing attachment in his 
parish, marked the early years of his ministry, when 
a dangerous illness prostrated his strength, and his 
physician advised him to relinquish his parochial 
duties for a time. A pulmonary disease ensued, and 
he deemed it proper to ask a dismission, which was 
granted with great reluctance by his attached friends 
here in October, 1804. After leaving Milton, he 
travelled in mild climates, and renovated his health 



59 

greatly, and was invited to settle in Boston, but was 
advised not to engage in regular preaching, although 
he frequently officiated temporarily in the desk. He 
employed hhnsclf in teaching in Boston for a time, 
and, after repeated invitations, he accepted a Pro- 
fessorship at Harvard College, where he employed 
himself some ten years, to the great satisfaction and 
benefit of the public. His health again failed him, 
and he visited Havana, where he ended his life in 
1818, at the early age of 42 years. 

The period we are now treating of, the latter half 
of the 18tli century, was a very eventful era of Mas- 
sachusetts history, and the occurrences of that time 
essentially affected this town. It embraced the seven 
years' war, known with us as the old French war, 
ending in the treaty of Paris in 1763. Then fol- 
lowed the long agitation preceding the Revolution, 
which ended by the occurrence at Lexington, the 
Fort vSumter of the Revolution ; then the long and 
bloody struggle which ended at the treaty of Ver- 
sailles in 1783, acknowledging the National Inde- 
pendence — followed by the period of exhaustion of 
five years, which preceded the adoption of the Con- 
stitution, when we finally took rank in the great 
family of civilized nations. During this period of 
thirty years, the town added nothing to its material 
wealth, and very little to its population — the whole 
increase not exceeding 100 persons. There were 
also other causes for the stationary condition of the 
town. The Province, which had from the beginning 
held large tracts of unoccupied lands in the western 



GO 

counties of Worcester, Hampshire and Berkshire, 
made large grants to soldiers, and to the heirs of 
those fallen in the Indian and French wars, and also 
large sales to speculators. These regions were filled 
up by men from the eastern towns. The aggregate 
population of the Province showed a respectable in- 
crease, but not the eastern section. A frightful draft 
was made upon our population by the wars with the 
French. Massachusetts was regarded by England 
as a sort of Switzerland, where men were raised to 
fight the battles of others. Levies of 5,000 or 6,000 
soldiers upon a small population of 200,000, occur- 
red every few years. Every one of the old families 
of this town will find some of their members among 
the victims of these struggles. When Gov. Ber- 
nard called for a levy of 6,000 men to accompany 
Lord Howe to Ticonderoga in 1758, a country Ke- 
presentative is reported to have made this short 
speech : — " Whenever an Englishman has his toe 
trodden on in France, Massachusetts must send half 
a dozen regiments to Canada to avenge the insult. 
I am heartily sick of this thing." On the same oc- 
casion a Committee of the House reported : — " The 
whole world knows the benefits derived to Great 
Britain from the loyalty of the Colonies, and from 
the efforts of this Province in particular, which, for 
more than a century past, has been wading in blood 
and laden with the expenses of repelling the com- 
mon enemy, without which efforts Great Britain at 
this day would have had no Colonics to defend." No 
coercion was requisite ; more men offered on this 
occasion than were called for — Major Stephen Mil- 



61 

ler, and others of this town, among the nnmber. 
The expedition was so popuhxr that the Province of 
Massachusetts erected a very costly marble monu- 
ment in Westminster Abbey, to Lord Howe, killed 
on the occasion. Massachusetts had also sent troops 
to the Spanish Main with Admiral Vernon, in 1741, 
to capture the city of Carthagena, and also with the 
Earl of Albemarle to Cuba, to capture the city of 
Havana, in 1762. 

The French w'ar ends, and the whole domination 
of France is swept from this continent. The Bri- 
tish Colonies have now a little time to attend to their 
own concerns. Some few persons thought that the 
vigor exhibited by the Colonies in the recent strug- 
gle, showed that the child had attained adult age, 
and might set up for himself. It was not altogether 
the small stamp tax upon deeds and bills of ex- 
change, nor three pence a pound duty on tea, that 
occasioned the discontent. There were deeper causes 
than these at work, although they furnished our ora- 
tors wdth fine materials for agitation. A long list of 
grievances was embodied in the famous Suffolk Reso- 
lutions, adopted in a County Convention liolden at 
Milton, in the house of Daniel Vose, Sept. 9, 1774, 
said to have been drawn up by Dr. Joseph Warren. 

The affair of Lexington, in xlpril, 1775, put an 
end to oratory, arguments and resolutions ; action is 
the w^ord, and men and money are called for. Men 
enough are forthcoming, and the Provincial Trea- 
surer can furnish paper promises without stint. Jo- 
seph VosE was chosen Colonel of this District mili- 
tia regiment, in November, 1774. On the 27th of 



62 

May, 1775, after the affair at Lexington, Col. Vose 
collects, in Milton and Dorchester, a posse of fifty or 
sixty men, rushes down the harbor and burns 
the Light-House, destroying all the hay at Nantasket 
and on the islands, much to the annoyance of Gen. 
Gage, who, besides twelve regiments of soldiers, had 
some thousands of horses to feed in the town, en- 
tirely surrounded by Provincial troops. 

Col. Vose was soon appointed Lieut. Colonel in 
the 25th (Greaton's) regiment, employed in the siege 
of Boston, till the evacuation of the town in March, 
1776. He w^as tben ordered to Canada, under Gen. 
Thomas, where the year was passed. Li the spring 
of 1777, his regiment joined Washington's army in 
New Jersey. Col. Vose returned home sick, in 
charge of the Surgeon's mate, and after some weeks, 
having entirely recovered, returned to the army and 
was promoted to Colonel of the regiment. The 
young doctor stays behind, sends in his resignation, 
and is found here sixty-five years afterwards in the 
person of our old friend Dr. Amos Holbrook.* 

* The following faithful sketch of Dr. Holbrook, who died June 17th» 
1842, was "written by the late Dr. T. W. Harris, the learned entomologist, 
of Cambridge. It belongs appropriately in our record. 

" Nearly seventy years of the long and useful life of this eminent physi- 
cian were spent in the practice of the medical profession. Dr. Holbrook 
entered upon his career with but little previous preparation ; but he made 
up for the want of the advantages of education in youth, not only by expe- 
rience and skill acquired while he was a Surgeon in the continental army, 
and by an extensive practice in Milton and the vicinity, but by a remarka- 
ble devotion to the study of his profession, early begun and continued to 
the last year of his life. By this course of self-teaching, he acquired a de- 
servedly high reputation, and was honored and respected both at home 
and abroad. 

" lie was born in the town of Bellingham, in this State, on the 23d of Janu- 
ary, 17o4. At an early age he began the study of medicine, under the 
direction of his maternal uncle. Dr. Metcalf, of Franklin, and subsequently 
pursued it, for a short time, in Providence. In August, 1775, he joined 
the army, at Cambridge, in the capacity of surgeon's mate to the regunent 



63 

Col. Vose served faithfully all the war, was pre- 
sent at the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of 
Cornwallis, October, 1781, and in the corps of La- 
fayette, who writes to Washington in commendation 
of Col. Vose's services on this occasion. After the 

commanded by Col. John Grcaton. Having passed a satisfactory examina- 
tion, in March, 1776, he received a commission as Surgeon in the same 
regiment, and soon afterwards accompanied it to New York, and embarked 
for Albany, with the troops destined to reinforce those that were engaged 
in tlie expedition to Quebec. The unsticccssful issue of the campaign in 
Canada compelled them, alter reaching the mouth of the Sorel, to retreat to 
Ticonderoga, where they remained from June till late in the autumn, siifFer- 
ing severely in the mean time from the want of proper supplies and fiom 
the ravages of the small-pox. In December, they descended the North 
River to New Windsor, and, on their arrival there, the troops under Col. 
Greaton returned home, their term of service having exjiired. I)r. Holbrook 
was then transferred to Col. Joseph Vose's regiment, which he followed into 
New Jersey, where they had frequent skirmishes Avith the enemy. Having 
passed the winter at head quarters in Morristown, he was obliged, in Jilarcli, 
1777, to apply for a discharge, in consequence of ill health, and returned to 
Massachusetts. Immediately afterwards he went to Milton, where he was 
induced to establish himself, by the advice of Col. Vose and other oificers 
belonging to the same town, with whom he had become acquainted in the 
army. A severe attack of fever and ague, contracted probably in his pre- 
vious campaign, led him, towards the end of the summer, to try the bcriCfit 
of a sea voyage ; and having obtained a situation as Surgeon in a letter of 
marque, commanded by Captain Truxton, he sailed lor the coast of Europe, 
visited France, where, bemg detained several months in port, he spent his 
tune in seeing practice in the hospitals, and in improving himseli" in the 
knowledge of his profession ; and returned to Jlilton, after an absence of 
rather less than a year, in perfect health. 

" Soon after his return, I3r. Holbrook succeeded in establishing tempora- 
ry hospitals for the reception of patients inoculated with the small-pox ; 
and by this means became known to the jieople of the town. Prepossessing 
in appearance, pleasing in his manners, possessed of great bodily activity, 
and ardent and indefatigable in attention to business and in the pursuit of 
knowledge, he soon found himself well established in a practice, which 
gradually and constantly increased from year to year. He was, indeed, 
eminently acceptable as a physician. His very presence in the sick chamber 
and the soothing kindness of his address seemed to give hope to his patients, 
and inspired confidence in their friends ; while his assiduous attentions to 
the sick of all ages and conditions, and his sympathy \\ ith the fifflicted, al- 
leviated suffering and afforded consolation when the resources of art failed 
to arrest the progress and fatal termination of disease. He was alwaj-s 
jjrompt to answer every call, and much of his time was spent iai gratuitous 
services. 

" Though his disinterested benevolence and indifference to pecuniary 
compensation prevented Dr. Holbrook from accumulating wealth, he was 
rich in the blessings of the poor, who, but for his timely help, were ready 
to perish, and abimdantly shared in the happiness which he so liberally be- 
stowed. He took a very active part in promoting public vaccinations, 
though attended with considerable pecuniary sacrifice to himself ; and the 



64 

peace, he returned home, exchanged the sword for 
the ploughshare, and spent the long evenmg of his 
life upon his native farm. 

Col. V. had three brothers in the army. His 
younger brother, Elijah, attained the rank of Lieut. 

town of Milton, Avhcre he resided, was the first m a corporate capacity to 
extend the benefits of vaccination to its inhabitants, tlnx'C hundred and 
thirty-seven of whom, of all ages, from two months to upwards of seventy 
years, more than a fourth part of the whole population, being vaccina- 
ted by Dr. Holbrook in the year 1808. Twelve of these persons were 
subsequently tested by himself with small-pox moculation, and in due 
time were discharged, after successluUy resisting the infection. For many 
3'ears in succession he continued these public vaccinations in Milton, and 
kejjt a record of the names of those persons who passed through the disease 
satisfactorily. His benevolent exertions in this cause, and his general repu- 
tation, procured him, in the year 1811, the honor of an election as foreign 
member of the Medical Society of London, and of the Literary and Philo- 
sophical Society of Preston, m England. And here it may be proper to 
state that he was, for many years, a Councillor in the Massachusetts ^ledical 
Society, and also hlled for some time the office of its Vice i'residint ; and 
in the year 1813 he received the honorary degree of Doctor in iledicine at 
Harvard University. 

" Blessed with a vigorous constitution. Dr. Holbrook was enabled, with 
little intermission, to endure all the toils, by day and by night, of a labori- 
ous prolession, till he was nearly eighty years old ; after reaching this ad- 
vanced age, and till within a few months of his decease, though his strength 
■was much imjjaired by repeated and alarming attacks of sickness, and he 
suffered daily from an incurable organic disease, he continued to yield to 
the solicitations of patients who required his .services. 

" He always took much pleasure in the cultivation of the soil, and filled 
his grounds with a choice variety of fruit trees and shrubs. Even alter he 
had passed the grand climacteric of life he continued yearly to t-et out, with 
his own hands, a great number of trees and vines, and lived to enjoy the 
fruits of many of them. His professional services, the urbanity of his man- 
ners, and his high moral worth, procured him the esteem, the respect and 
the veneration of a wide circle of relatives and friends, whom he delighted 
to receive in his hospitable mansion. Indeed, he Avas richly endowed with 
the power both of giving and receiving happiness, and enjoyed the atten- 
tions and the society of his friends to the last days of his protracted life. 
For several months he had been conscious of an increasing difficulty in res- 
])iration, especially on exertion ; but it was not till near the end of Deccm- 
b.T last, that this became alarming to his family. The nature of his disease 
was now apparent to others, as it had been to himself, and under it he gra- 
dually wasted away. He occasionally took exercise in the open air, and 
on the very day before his decease he was able to ride out, and to tender an 
office of kindness to a young and suffering friend. His faculties, with 
.scarcely diminished vigor, remained with him to the last moment, when, 
without a struggle, he expired. 

•'The departure of this venerable patriot, good citizen, skilful physician, 
and warm-hearted friend, has left a wide void in the place he so long and 
ao honorably iillcd in public and in private estimation." 



65 

Colonel, and served during the war with credit. 
Moses and Bill were also employed in responsible 
stations. These gentlemen were all kno-svu to the 
elder members of the present community. 

The military spirit of Col. Vose has been revived 
in the two succeeding generations of his family. 
Col. JosiAH II. YosE, his youngest son, entered the 
U. S. Army before the war of 1812, and after a cre- 
ditable military career of thirty-four years, died in 
command of his regiment at New Orleans, in 1845, 
at the age of 61 years. Edwin Vose Sumner, son of 
Elisha and Nancy (Vose) Sumner, grandson of Col. 
Joseph Vose, is the present INIajor General, who 
commands an army corps on the Potomac, next in 
command toMcClellan; was born in 1796, spent 
his early youth in Milton, entered the army in 1819, 
and has just completed forty-three years of active 
military life, having probably seen more duty on the 
frontiers than any officer living. He rendered bril- 
liant service as a cavalry officer in Mexico, and was 
sent by Government, in 1853-1, to \dsit all parts of 
Eiu'opc to collect military knowledge. His histori- 
cal page will doubtless be much extended in the 
present struggle. 

Job Sumner, son of Setli Sumner, of Brush Hill, 
was an under graduate of Harvard College in 1775. 
When the operations of the University were disturb- 
ed by the presence of Washington's army, at Cam- 
bridge, he laid aside his books and procured a Lieu- 
tenant's commission in Col. Bond's regiment, and 
remained in the army through the war. He had 
attained the rank of Major at the peace, and conti- 



66 

nued in tlie military service of the Gancral Govern- 
ment until his death in 1794, which took place 
on board a packet sliip from Charleston to New 
York, where he was buried with much ceremony by 
the Freemasons, of which fraternity he was a pro- 
minent member, and also of the Cincinnati Society. 
A fine marble monument to his memory may be 
seen in Trinity Church-yard, Broadway, New York. 
He was grandfather of the present Senator Charles 
Sumner. 

The whole mmiber of persons in the town subject 
to military duty was less than 200, but the full quota 
of men was furnished during th®' whole war, and 
sometimes more. After the peace, the matter of a 
new Meeting-house came up again, and, after much 
discussion, this present building was erected, and 
occupied Jan. 1st, 1788 — at a cost of £1700. The 
pews sold for X*1400, about ^1000 less than the 
whole cost. The building was formally dedicated, 
the minister furnished with a new horse-hair wig 
and black gown, and in the spring every man in the 
Parish brings a young elm tree and plants it in the 
yard. The three Dutch elms before the door were 
brought from Brush Hill. The old ]Meeting-house, 
standing on the road, was pulled down after the new 
building was occupied. 

Seventeen young men belonging to the town gra- 
duated at Harvard College, during the last fifty years 
of the eighteenth century. They all became re-' 
spectable men, and some of them distinguished. 



L.ofG. 



67 

John Miller, son of Samuel Miller, Jr. and Re- 
becca (Minot) Miller, of ^lilton, born at Milton in 
1783, graduated at Harvard College in 1752, or- 
dained minister of Brunswick, Maine, 1762. He 
died on a visit to Boston, Jan. 25, 1789, travelling 
for his health. 

Benjamin Wads worth, son of Deacon Benjamin 
Wadsworth, of Milton, was born in 1750. He 
graduated at Harvard College in 1769, settled at 
Danvers in 1772, died in 1826, aged 76; was in the 
ministry fifty-four years. He published a sermon 
preached at the ordination of J. Badcock in 1783 ; 
two Thanksgiving sermons, 1795 and '96 ; dedication 
sermon, 1807. His only daughter married Hon. 
John Ruggles, of Milton. 

Peter Thatcher, the oldest son of Oxenbridge 
Thatcher, Jr., was born at Milton in 1752. His 
father resided generally in Boston, where his son 
went to school, was prepared for College by Master 
John Lovell, and was entered at the University in 
1765, the year of his father's death. He was dili- 
gent in his studies, and had the clerical j)i'ofession 
continually in view. He was ordained at Maiden 
before twenty years of age. Eev. N. Robbms 
preached the ordination sermon in 1770, which was 
published. Mr. T. was much admired as a preacher, 
possessing a sonorous voice, natural oratory, and 
great fluency in prayer ; Whitefield called him the 
young Elijah. He was a rigid Calvinist. Persons 
of that persuasion were eager to spread his fame, 
whilst others of different opinions indulged in censure. 
In the latter part of his life he was very moderate 



68 

and charitable towards all good men. He was very 
ardent on the patriotic side during the Revolution, 
and delivered a political address March 5th, 1775, 
at Watertown, which is in print. He was sent from 
Maiden to the Convention to form the State Consti- 
tution in 1780, was installed minister of Brattle Street 
Church, Boston, in 1785, received the degree of 
Doctor from the University of Edinburgh, and was 
one of the founders of the Historical Society. He 
Avas attacked by pulmonary disease, and died in 
1802 in Georgia, whither he went for his health. 

William Sandford Hutchinson, son of Gov. T. 
Hutchinson, was born at Milton, June 30th, 1752. 
He graduated at Harvard College in 1770, and died 
at Brompton, in England, Eebruary 26th, 1780, aged 
27 1-2 years. 

JosiAH Badcock, son of Nathan Badcock, was 
born at Milton in 1752; graduated at Harvard in 
1772 ; settled at Andover, N. H. Ordination in 1783 ; 
sermon by Rev. B. Wads worth. Died in 1831. He 
retired from the desk, twenty years before his death, 
and lived quietly upon his farm. 

Samuel Henshaw, son of Samuel, Jr., and Wait- 
still Henshaw, was born at Milton in 1744 ; gra- 
duated at Harvard College, 1773; married Sarah, 
daughter of Nathaniel Swift, 1777. His wife died 
in 1781, and he subsequently married a daughter of 
the Rev. John Hunt, of the Old South Church. 
Mr. H. studied for the ministry at fii'st, but relin- 
quished that calling, and removed to Northampton 
about the close of the Revolution, and filled the 
office of Judge of Probate for Hampshire County 



69 

many years, until his death in 1809. He was a 
member, from Milton, of the Convention which form- 
ed the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1779 and '80, 
Edward Hutchinson Robbins, eldest son of Rev. 
Nathaniel Bobbins, was born at Milton, Feb. 19, 
1758, where he passed his childhood. He was 
benefited by the instructions of Dr. Jeremy Belknap, 
who taught school at Milton two years after leaving 
College. He was partially fitted for College by Dr. 
Lemuel Hay ward, who also kept a grammar school 
some time at Milton. He entered College in 1771, 
in his 14th year, and finished his collegiate course 
respectably in 1775 — occupying a room with his 
townsman, Thomas Thatcher, afterwards minister of 
Dedham, with whom he continued an intimacy until 
the death of the latter in 1813. The last year of 
his college life was somewhat interrupted by the 
affairs at Lexington and Charlestown. After leaving 
College, he kept a school at Dorchester for a year. 
In 1776 he entered the office of John Sprague, Esq., 
of Lancaster, and commenced the study of the law. 
He remained a year at Lancaster, and in 1777 re- 
moved to Bridgewater, and continued his studies with 
Oakes Angier, then a distinguished practitioner. In 
1779 he was admitted to the bar, and commenced 
practice at Milton, tie was the same year elected 
to represent his native town in the Convention which 
formed the Constitution of Massachusetts. He was 
the youngest member of this body, which contained 
nearly all the prominent men of the State, many of 
whom were his friends through much of his after 
life. He continued the practice of law at Milton 



70 

till 1785, during four years of whicli time he repre- 
sented the town in the Legislature. He enjoyed the 
confidence of the community, and his professional 
business increased so much that he removed his office 
to Boston, where all the Courts of law for this sec- 
tion were then held. In November, 1785, he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Murray, who had been a resi- 
dent of Milton for some years previously, and pur- 
chased the Gooch estate at Milton Hill, where he 
resided nearly twenty years, till he removed to Brush 
Hill in 1805, which became his residence for the 
remainder of his life. His habits were active, and 
he began to weary of the confinement of professional 
life, and soon employed himself much wdth other 
pursuits. He was among the early purchasers of the 
Commonwealth's lands in INIaine, and was much oc- 
pied in settling and improving the lands, a subject 
of great interest to him all his life. In 1792, he 
was again chosen to represent the town of Milton 
in the Legislature, and continued to be re-elected 
ten years in succession, in nine of which he occupied 
the Speaker's chair. How well he performed the 
duties and sustained the honor of that station, is too 
well known to need any mention. His extraordi- 
nary exercise of memory and promptness in recol- 
lecting the persons and character of the members 
in the duties of appointment, his knowledge of par- 
liamentary rules and the local interests of the Com- 
monwealth, became proverbial, and were a great 
facility to the public business. During this period, 
much of his time was employed in other public du- 
ties. He was one of the Commissioners for building 



71 

the State House, also the State Prison. In 1796, 
he was elected by the House to the U. S. Senate, 
but the County of Essex urged the necessity of a 
practical merchant for the place, and the Senate 
made choice of Mr. Goodhue, a merchant of Salem, 
whereupon Mr. E,. at once withdrew his name. In 
1802 he was induced to accept the nomination of 
Lieutenant Governor with Gov. Strong, with whom 
he had been much acquainted before. He was 
elected, and continued to fill the duties of this office 
till 1807, when the democratic party came into 
power. He was frequently employed in the service 
of the State in responsible places, such as member 
of the Board of War in 1812, Commissioner for 
treating with the Eastern Indians, and for the ma- 
nagement of Eastern lands, and filled the place of 
Judge of Probate for Norfolk County some seventeen 
or eighteen years. He never sought public office, 
and never occupied any place of profit, but was often 
selected for places requiring judgment and integrity 
by the appointing power. He inherited a competent 
property, and faithfully executed many responsible 
trusts, but left no wealth behind. He belonsred to 
the Federal school in politics, but was no zealous 
partizan — firm in opinion, prudent in action — en- 
dowed with strong love of the human race — never 
weary of serving others, and rather negligent of his 
own mterests. Greatly esteemed by a very wide cir- 
cle of friends, his opinion was much sought for and 
valued, and was always at the command of every 
one. His fine colloquial j)owers and social disposi- 
tion rendered his society very attractive. He was 



72 

the zealous friend of religion and education, long 
a member of the Milton Church and of various asso- 
ciations for the diffusion of gospel truths. To his 
personal efforts was mainly due the establishment of 
the Academy in his native town. In his domestic 
relations, the cheerful kindness of his nature was 
especially conspicuous. His death, which occurred 
Dec. 29, 1829, at the age of 72, was greatly lament- 
ed by his friends and neighbors. 

RuFus Badcock, son of George and Ruth Badcock, 
born at Milton in 1755 ; graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1775. His death occurred in a Southern 
State, where he was employed in teaching, in 1793. 

Thomas Thatcher, son of Oxenbridge Thatcher, 
W'as born at Milton in 1757, and graduated at Cam- 
bridge in 1775. He was settled at West Dedham, and 
died in 1813, aged 56. He w^as an eccentric man, 
of studious habits, unmarried, lived a retired life 
within his own parish, and was somewhat occupied 
in teaching. Many students were sent to him from 
the College. He printed several sermons : — one on 
the deatli of Eev. N. Robbins ; one at the dedication 
of the Milton Academy ; a Christmas sermon in 
1797, in the Episcopal church in Dedham ; and also a 
discourse before the Humane Society at Boston, June, 
1800. He Avas a member of the State Convention 
to discuss the U. S. Constitution. He and his col- 
league Fisher Ames represented Dedham. This 
instrument, now regarded as the sheet anchor of 
our liberties, balanced in a state of uncertainty in 
the Convention many weeks, and finally, in a House 
of 355, was adopted by the small majority of nme- 



73 

teen votes only. Mr. Thatcher made a very effective 
speech near the close, termmatmg hi these words : — 
" It has been hinted in this House, that there exists 
a combination of the rich and the learned to estab- 
lish and support an arbitrary form of government. 
Far be it from me to retort so unchristian a sug- 
gestion. I am conscious of no motive which guides 
me in this great and solemn question, but what I 
could justify to my own heart, both on the bed of 
death and before the tribunal of Omnipotence. I 
am a poor man. I have the feelings of a poor man. 
If there are honors and emoluments in this proposed 
Constitution, 1 shall, by my profession and circum- 
stances in life, be forever excluded from them. It 
is my wish and prayer, that in the solemn verdict 
we are very soon to pronounce, we may be directed 
to that measure which will be for the glory, freedom 
and felicity of my country. I shall trouble this 
House no farther, than by sincerely expressing the 
wish, that the people, in this their day, may know 
the things which belong to their peace." 

Jesse Tucker, son of Jeremiah Tucker and his 
wife Mary (Wadsworth) Tucker, was born at Milton 
in 1758; graduated at Harvard College 1778, and 
studied medicine with his kinsman, Dr. John Warren. 
He served with Capt. Manly as a Surgeon in a public 
armed ship, was attacked by fever on the cruise, and 
put on shore at Newfoundland, where he died in 
December, 1779. 

Jeremiah S. Boies, son of Capt. James Boies, of 
Milton, born in 1762, graduated at Harvard College 

10 



74 

1783 ; was occupied in his father's business of 
paper making ; married Miss Hannah Clark in 
1785. His father died in 1798, aged 96, and be- 
queathed a handsome estate to his son. Mr. B. 
became one of the earhest cotton manufacturers of 
Massachusetts, having originated the Company at 
Dorchester, which successfully conducted this busi- 
ness for more than forty years. Mr. B. died at 
Boston in 1851, aged 89 years. 

Nathaniel Johnson Robbins, second son of Rev. 
Nathaniel Eobbins, was born at Milton in 1776, 
and graduated at Harvard College in 1784. He oc- 
cupied his short life in commercial pursuits, travelling 
much abroad, and died at Milton in 1799, aged 33, 
from the effects of a liver disease, contracted in the 
British West Indies. He w^as an agreeable, social 
person, and left a lasting impression upon the memo- 
ry of many of his cotemporaries, some of whom 
survived him 40 or 50 years. 

John Murray Forbes was the son of Rev. John 
Forbes, a Scotch clergyman who was stationed at 
St. Augustine while the Colony of Florida was in 
possession of the British Government. Mr. F., the 
father, was married at Milton, in 1769, to Miss Do- 
rothy Murray, the daughter of James Murray, Esq. 
J. Murray Forbes was born at St. Augustine, and 
came to Milton with his mother in 1773 ; was fitted 
for College by Dr. Samuel Kendall, of Weston ; gra- 
duated in 1787, in the class with John Q. Adams and 
James Lloyd ; studied law with John Sprague, of 
Lancaster, and Pliny Merrick, of Brookfield, and 



75 

began liis professional career at Northfield in 1791. 
Afterwards he moved to Boston, and, associated with 
C. P. Phelps, practised law in 1794 and '95. He was 
employed to go to France on business in 1796, and 
spent most of his life abroad ; received the appoint- 
ment of Consul to Hamburg, 1801 — Charge d' Af- 
faires at Copenhagen, 1810 — Minister to Buenos 
Ayres, 1820, and remained there till his death in 
1831. He died unmarried. He was a gentleman 
of fine qualities, and his protracted residence in 
foreign countries was held a great privation by nu- 
merous friends at home. 

Solomon Vose, son of Col. Joseph Yose, was born 
at Milton in 1768, and graduated at Harvard College 
in 1787 ; studied law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, of 
Worcester, and commenced practice at Northfield, 
Franklin County, which town he frequently repre- 
sented in the State Legislature ; and in 1805 he 
removed to Augusta, Maine, where he died, much 
respected, in 1809. 

EoGER Vose, son of Eobert Vose, of Milton, born 
in 1763, and graduated at Harvard College in 1790; 
studied law, and settled at Walpole, N. H., where 
he was in practice many years. He served two 
terms as member of Congress from that District. 
His death occurred in IS-il, when 78 years of age. 

Charles Pinckney Sumner, son of Job Sumner, 
was born at Milton in 1776, graduated at Harvard 
in 1796, studied law, and practised his profession in 
Boston many years. He served 15 or 20 years as 
Sheriff of the County of Suffolk, and died in 1839, 



my 10 1904 



76 

aged 63. He delivered an eulogy upon the death of 
Washington, at Milton, Feb. 22, 1800, which was 
published by the town. 



The adoption of the U. S. Constitution, in 1788, 
occasioned the funding of the State debts, the resto- 
ration of credit, the revival of trade, and our town 
participated in the increasing prosperity of the State. 
A long and successful career then commenced, and 
has continued for seventy-three years, with slight in- 
terruptions, until the commencement of our present 
difficulties, which possibly may be intended as a 
wholesome check upon the pride and extravagance 
which proceed from a long exemption from reverses. 

I shall not enter upon the events of the present 
century, which have scarcely ripened into history, as 
many living witnesses of the occurrences of this 
period are still among us. 



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